Deutsch-Park - Playground@Landscape

REPORT
initiative groups, every year we’ve been able to build, renovate or extend
more playgrounds and outdoor play amenities than would otherwise
have been possible. And the concept also facilitates more needsorientated
and rapid implementation of projects.”
It is hardly possible to imagine a better way of facilitating the involvement
of residents. The local authorities can thus make the (less
ambitious) plans of their citizens reality at comparatively little cost.
At the same time, the relative personnel outlay needed to supervise
the projects of citizens’ initiative groups is considerably higher than
in the case of larger playground ventures, in which not only children
but also adults are involved. The construction of playgrounds in phases
spread over several years is also not necessarily a particularly
cost-effective approach, but is often the only way in which to avoid
longer delays. At least, this is the view expressed by Thea Weber,
planning and construction officer for green spaces at the Public
Spaces Department (SÖR) of Nuremberg.
On completion, such projects often achieve higher acceptance rates
among users than other comparable playgrounds so that they are less
subject to the ravages of vandalism, a fact also confirmed by Peter
Bechert, officer for playground maintenance at the Public Spaces
Department.
Of course, even Nuremburg’s “Make three from one” programme has to
have certain ‘rules of the game’, and these are shown in a leaflet available
to every interested citizen. The following is a short summary of
the main aspects:
●
●
●
Each project must be notified to the Public Spaces Department
so that it can be reviewed in advance.
The viability of each project is assessed by the municipal
authority which stipulates an appropriate timeframe for
completion. Annual deadline for donation pledges by sponsors
is the end of November. The project is to be implemented in the
following year. Donations are to be received by the end of January
(donation receipts are issued).
Children and young people are to be involved in the planning
process (a matter of course!) together with parents, initiative
groups, educators and teachers.
●
●
The search for sponsors can commence as soon as the viability of
the project has been verified.
The Public Spaces Department is to be consulted with regard
to material and construction costs and these will be recognised
as donations. Per construction phase and year, the city
will contribute a maximum of h 20,000. The minimum
contribution will be determined on the basis of the actual
project.
In the initial years of the programme, no specifically dedicated
budget was available. The contribution of the municipal authority
was taken from the funds put aside for playgrounds and outdoor
play areas (currently, this is equivalent to an annual sum of
h 672,000) remaining after needsorientated projects had been
realised. However, a separate “Make three from one” playground
budget was instituted in 2005. The annual amount that Nuremburg
can contribute annually towards the programme (ignoring
donations) is, of course, limited. It was originally h85,000 but has
since grown to h 130,000. Fortunately, this has proved to be
enough to complete all approved projects submitted by initiative
groups – although several projects had to be completed in several
construction phases. The number of approved projects varies
between 6 and 14 each year. In 2012, nine playground and play
area projects were on the agenda. A further ten projects are being
planned for 2013.
Case 1:
It is usually citizens' associations, parent councils and politicians
who are the driving forces behind playground and play area projects
and acquire the donations, predominantly from commercial enterprises.
One example of active citizen participation deserves special
mention. A young girl expressed the wish that there were more play
facilities for her and her friends in addition to the amenities
provided in the socalled ‘Hexenwäldchen’ playground in Nuremburg’s
St. Johannis district. The girl’s mother found out about the
“Make three from one” programme and set out, collection tin in hand
and without other help, to see what donations she could gather in
her neighbourhood. Within a month, she had amassed the sum
required (supplemented by the twothirds contribution of the city
39