We are constantly building new facilities throughout the city.
- Alexandra Altermark
Program manager Children’s Byrom, Urban Environment Agency / Implementation Department
Right now
This is a debate post. The entry was written by an external contributor, and quality assured by BT’s debate department. Opinions and analyzes are the writer’s own.
We’re cheering Eivor Marie and Asgeir, who in their report investigate the private playgrounds in Kronstad. However, BT commentator Gerd Margrete Tjeldflåt also claims that Bergen municipality is failing the city’s playing children. We do not agree with that. In the last few years alone, we have built 16 great play and activity areas in the municipality.
Tjeldflåt writes: “The playgrounds do not exist. At least not in the city centre». No, in our busy city center you will not find a well-maintained playground, safety approved and fenced enough for small children to play freely while “mother runs errands and father has a coffee in the sun”.
Fortunately, we still have wonderful urban spaces that are suitable for playing and staying for both young and old – from the library to DNS, and from Ole Bull’s place to the Seamen’s Monument.
These are traffic-protected areas with sculptures and fountains, colorful flower beds and grass areas, water installations and other balanceable elements. And benches.
Do you want to use dedicated municipal playgrounds in the city centre, we have over 40 of these between Sandviken, Nordnes and Nygårdshøyden. They are mainly designed for smaller children and have benches and planting. Bergenhus is the district with the highest density of municipal playgrounds per children.
Nevertheless, we want even more play in the city centre. In the plans for upgrading the city’s green axis from the library to DNS, we are looking at the possibilities for more play and activities. We do the same in the regulatory work for the Town Hall quarter.
Furthermore, Tjeldflåt writes that “the playgrounds are unkempt and unexciting”.
All municipal playgrounds have regular maintenance and safety checks. The establishment of playgrounds in the city center goes back a long way. The spaces therefore have different sizes, availability and content.
In recent times, we have rehabilitated huge green areas in Nygårdsparken. The park facility now offers, among other things, a climbing path, trampolines, swings, balance play, an oasis of various trees and bushes and much more.
We have also transformed Nordre Tollbodkai into an urban space with a focus on older children. The area the size of Festplassen now offers balance and climbing equipment, exercise equipment, swings, merry-go-rounds, ball games, table tennis, bicycle training, legal graffiti walls, kitchen garden for free use, benches and dining tables, roof structure, communal barbecue, power sockets and toilets.
We have established a temporary square with good living qualities and a certain play value at the Town Hall, not a playground. The area has been set aside as a rigging area for the Bybanen, and it is difficult to defend major investments here until the need for rigging is finally clarified. Yes, Bergen municipality might as well have left it alone, but we think this is better than an empty asphalt surface.
In addition to the aforementioned facilities, the Urban Environment Agency has established a total of 14 municipal facilities for play and activity in all districts in the last four years alone. The spaces are planned and designed in close dialogue with children and young people, and are meant to be meeting places for a family outing – easily accessible and generously equipped with both benches and picnic tables in car-free and green surroundings.
No, BT’s architecture reviewer has not been enthusiastic about any of the aforementioned. Fortunately, there are many others, and especially children and young people, who find joy and challenges in their new meeting places.
Finally writing Tjeldflåt that “the playgrounds are far too demanding – too grown-up”.
Some of the many qualities of play are community, challenge, learning – and commitment. We are unlikely to achieve that by building padded and simple playgrounds where mother and father become passive spectators. Instead, we strive for good and inclusive shared spaces.
And we have benches – you’ll find a couple of them right next to the climbing trail in Nygårdsparken.
Published: April 30, 2024 5:54 am
