Image credit: Glamis Adventure Playground, Rethinking Childhood
A late 1960’s housing estate adjacent to an adventure playground, and with a strong play culture supported across decades.
The rationale for taking a child-friendly approach
Plas Madoc is a housing estate on the edge of Wrexham, built between 1968 and 1970 for social rent. Though not intentionally child-centred in its original design, it has emerged as a notably play-friendly environment.
Generous green spaces, pedestrian-only paths and a tolerance of children playing throughout the estate have created a setting where independent mobility and informal play are normalised. On the edge of the estate is The Land – a staffed adventure playground that continues to thrive, despite a UK-wide decline in such facilities since the 1960s.
Children and young people’s experience
There was no formal child engagement in the planning of Plas Madoc, but extensive research documents how children now use and experience the area. Studies by Ludicology and Ali Long show that children benefit from a wide variety of spaces—including parks, streets, woods and The Land—and enjoy broad community support for playing freely. A quote from a parent in Ali Long’s study notes:
‘I’ve never had so many kids knock on my door. Where I used to live, we couldn’t go out so the kids were literally locked in the house for 3 years. They didn’t play. When we moved here, the first thing they did was go out and play. There was a park and it was like, that’s it, out of the house. And that’s the big difference is that they get the chance to.’
Importantly at The Land, staffed play provision enhances children’s experiences, with five evenings a week of year-round play projects being provided. Ali Long’s study also found that children with greater freedom to roam described more satisfaction with play and a stronger connection to their neighbourhood.
The planning process
The estate is a legacy of late-1960s social housing design. Its layout, segregating cars from pedestrian routes and retaining open spaces, now serves as a quiet success story for incidental child-friendliness. However, this success has been sustained not through planning policy, but through local commitment to protecting and nurturing play infrastructure, notably The Land.
Outcomes
Despite economic disadvantage, Plas Madoc consistently performs well in assessments of play sufficiency. Children are visible throughout the estate and informal, intergenerational use of space is common. The Land continues to inspire playwork practice across the UK, offering an essential, embedded resource for local children and families.
Dinah Bornat of ZCD Architects also conducted a piece of research Play Sufficiency and Neighbourhood Layout: A comparative study, where Plas Madoc is analysed against other neighbourhoods and scores highest. She notes:
‘As well as a positive attitude towards play in the community, the layout gives children the opportunity to play close to home and also to move around their neighbourhood safely to call on friends and find a variety of spaces to play.‘
Learning for other places
- Design matters: Generous green space, pedestrian permeability, and informal access routes foster safe, independent play.
- Culture sustains child-friendliness: Acceptance of children playing freely is as critical as physical infrastructure.
- Adventure play has enduring value: Staffed, community-rooted play provision continues to support wellbeing and inclusion, especially in deprived areas.
