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A community built playground in Tel-Aviv
Article · January 1999
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Yodan Rofé
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
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A Community Built Playground
in Tel-Aviv
YODAN Y. ROFE
This field note reviews the immediate and wider significance of a neighbourhood
playground built in 1990 by the local community from a deprived area of Tel-Aviv, Israel in
partnership with its municipality. The success of the project is manifest in its continued use,
upkeep and maintenance by the local community, and in recent moves by the city of Tel-Aviv
to extend the initiative in conjunction with local schools, in an attempt to foster children's
involvement with, and care for, their immediate environment.
Introduction
Before: A Dilapidated Community Space
This is the story of the transformation of a
popular community space from a spartan
and dilapidated play environment into a
public garden and children's playground in
a low-income neighbourhood of Tel-Aviv in
Israel. This achievement was made possible
by a unique co-operation between pro­
fessionals, city officials and the people of the
community. In this field note, I describe the
prior condition of the area, the circum­
stances that led to the project, the design of
the playground and its construction, and the
outcomes of the project in the neighbour­
hood and beyond .
The site of the playground was a sandy lot,
roughly in the centre of the neighbourhood,
along a major public transit street. It was
strewn with old metal play equipment and
lacked trees and shade. Yet it was still
heavily used despite its 'neglected' state,
given the absence of any other play space in
the vicinity.
For local residents, renewal of the
playground was of functional and symbolic
significance. They saw it as an important
local resource (use value) within the neigh­
bourhood. The city administration's negation
of its periodic promises to renew the
Figure 1. Before: state of the playground before the beginning of the project. (Source: Jimmy Jolley)
BUILT ENVIRONMENT VOL 25 NO 1
61
PLAYGROUNDS IN THE BUILT EN VIRONMENT
playground was perceived as an indication
of the city's disregard for the neigh­
bourhood (symbolic significance).
I became involved with the issue after
moving to the neighbourhood in 1988. An
opportunity for progress was presented
when I approached Jimmy Jolley, the
playground designer who had been invited
by Aenahem Granoff, Chair of the Israeli
chapter of the International Association for
the Child's Right to Play (IPA) to help build
two playground projects in Israel.
The rationale for building playgrounds
with the community is both economic and
social. From an economic viewpoint, one is
able, by using volunteer labour, and
materials donated or recycled locally, to
build a rich and interesting play environ­
ment for much less cost than if contracted
privately. Socially, the process of building
the playground helps to bring people in the
community together, and fosters a sense of
shared ownership. In turn, this sense of
ownership helps to reduce vandalism, and
to ensure better maintenance once the
project is completed.
During: The Design and the
Process of Construction
Jolley tries to involve local children and
adults from the initial design stage of
playground construction. However, at the
outset, neither the community nor the
municipality were active participants in this
'local project'. On one hand, because of the
legacy of mistrust between the people and
the municipality, local people were reluctant
to become involved until construction had
started. On the other hand, the Head of the
Parks Department, unsure of the seriousness
of the project, wanted us to present a design
and an estimate before approving funds for
the project. Local participation was
contingent on the initial progress of the
playground designers. In this respect, the
project is unique among 'community built'
playgrounds. Furthermore, the project is
unique in Israel where 'community built'
playgrounds tend to focus on schoolyards
and to have the support of a strong
community organization - the school's
parent association - which is responsible for
organizing the volunteer work.
The design of the playground was simple,
and was intended to allow for various
groups to use the playground simul­
taneously. We kept the existing informal
paths, which defined two major play areas, a
separate swing area, and two seating areas.
One play area is for toddlers, while the
other, with more challenging play struc­
tures, is for older kids. One seating area is
central with a view to the sea, while the
other is near the major street entrance
underneath a pergola. Furthermore, within
the pergola, facilities for babies were
planned to allow them to play under the
close supervision of their parents. The first
contingent condition for participation had
been met and municipal funds were
approved on the basis of this design.
The first week was spent preparing the
site by landscaping and digging the trenches
for irrigation lines. Thereafter, more and
more local people joined in, particularly at
the pOint where the play equipment was
being introduced. Children came first,
curious to see what was going on, and
willing to help. Soon after came the parents,
both mothers and fathers. Last came the
teenagers, who stood on the sidelines not
wanting to appear too enthusiastic or to lose
face by seeming to do something for
nothing. At times we had over fifty people
working together on the site, some of them
adults who grew up in the neighbourhood
and now lived elsewhere, but who still came
to visit their parents and friends. Restaurant
owners in the vicinity sent food and drinks
for the workers. For a period of two weeks
the playground became a real focus of the
community (figure 2).
Perhaps the most important moment in
the construction process was the arrival of
the trees. The Parks Department sent us
BUILT ENVIRONMENT \'VL_
fully mature trees : \\'::
centimetres in di amet
be dug, and the treec:. n
place. The transforma
immediate. In the desi
the blank side wall falin _
was envisaged as a m;..
cheerful background to f
play structures were c
cessfully applied for hu·
Aviv Art foundation, an
local artist, painted the ..
registered in the public aT: ~
of Tel-Aviv (figure 3).
Mr. Haim Massou ri,
\·yorker, and local acti\
diligently during the co
upon himself to be the UT.
of the playground. He carr.
watered the trees, and m
'vIENT VOL 25 NO 1
A COMMUNITY BUILT PLA YGROUND IN TEL-AVIV
fully mature trees: with trunks more than 20
centimetres in diameter, deep holes had to
be dug, and the trees had to be hoisted into
place. The transformation of the space was
street cleaners did their job properly. In a
sense he nursed it along the most difficult
months after construction until it became
firmly established.
Figure 2. During: moments in the process of constructing the playground. (Source : Jimmy Jolley)
immediate. In the design of the playground,
the blank side wall facing the playground
was envisaged as a mural, to provide a
cheerful background to the space. Once the
play structures were completed, we suc­
cessfully applied for funds from the Tel­
A viv Art founda tion, and Carlos Basanta, a
local artist, painted the mural, which is now
registered in the public art guide of the city
of Tel-Aviv (figure 3).
Mr. Haim Massouri, a retired metal
worker, and local activist, who worked
diligently during the construction, took it
upon himself to be the unofficial custodian
of the playground. He came there every day,
watered the trees, and made sure that the
BUILT ENVIRONMENT VOL 25 NO 1
After: User Evaluations and Feelings about
the Playground
Neighbourhood residents who participated
in the construction were immensely proud
of their achievement. They began to appreciate
the uniqueness and interest of the play­
ground for the kids. The children them­
selves felt that they owned it. They had no
doubts that it was the best playground in
the city. The last doubters in the community,
who continued to believe that it was merely
a way for the city to get the neighbourhood
to agree to a cheaper and less 'beautiful'
playground, were finally convinced by the
exposure that the neighbourhood and the
63
PlAYGROU N DS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMEN T
process received in the local and national
press. This pride and sense of ownership, as
well as the use-value of the dense play
environment, were important for the con­
tinued upkeep of the playground . Although
undergoing wear and tear due to heavy use,
none of the structures in the playground
were vandalized, nor was the mural defaced
by graffiti - this in a neighbourhood where
there is usually little respect for public
property.
However, because the equipment is
unique and does not conform to any
now using the park, it is just another park
built by the city, and therefore they do not
see themselves as responsible for it, or able
to contribute to it in any way.
Wider Outcomes, and Lessons to be
Learned From the Project
The publicity surrounding the success of
this playground helped secure support for
two more community built playground
projects in Israel. In parallel, Jolley, the
playground designer, held a short workshop
local environment. "'"T
project to transform
parents, teachers it!'.
projects have beer _­
by architects Yael -,(_
who participated : ,
Saadia Mandl.
Each communi t\· ::'
its place and the eire:
possible. On the o c!'
this have been bui!,
idea is certainly tran
to be adapted to i
attitudes. Tremen do....,
ment is needed frorr:
project. In our case
was expended in aCL
were promised b\"
seemed tha t the co:'.,.
against all the ac(__
departments, as d ili
Figure 3. After: the completed playground. (Source: Anat Basanta)
standard design, there has been no regular
maintenance plan for tasks such as replacing
torn tyres or re-tightening the chains and
wires of bridges. In recent years, with
population changing in the community,
there seems to be less involvement of people
in the playground. For the kids and parents
64
on designing and building community
playgrounds at the Faculty of Architecture
in the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in
Jerusalem. More recently, the city of Tel­
Aviv decided that building playgrounds
with the community would be a good way
to educate kids to care more about their
BUILT ENVIRON ME NT VOL 25 NO 1
BUILT ENVIRO NMENT VOL ~~
A COMMUNITY BUILT PLA YGROUND IN TEL-A VIV
local environment. The city has initiated a
project to transform ten schoolyards by
parents, teachers and children. Four of these
projects have been built so far, supervised
by architects Yael Mann, one of the students
who participated in the workshop, and
Saadia Mandl.
Each community built project is unique to
its place and the circumstances that make it
possible. On the other hand, projects like
this have been built all over the world. The
idea is certainly transferable, although it has
to be adapted to local circumstances and
attitudes. Tremendous energy and commit­
ment is needed from the organizers of the
project. In our case, much of this energy
was expended in accessing the support we
were promised by the city. At times it
seemed that the construction process went
against all the accepted practices of city
departments, as did the pace at which we
BUILT ENVIRONMENT VOL 25 NO I
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were working (building a playground in
three weeks). This 'loss' of energy to admini­
strative tasks, could be avoided by estab­
lishing a special municipal programme for
community playgrounds that provided
design know-how and logistical support.
While not all communities may be interested
in building such a playground, it is a means
for neighbourhood groups who seek to
mobilize and unite the community. The
continued success of this playground shows,
I believe, that the city has much to gain from
more projects like these, particularly in low­
income areas. In the end, building the
playground has been an incredibly re­
warding experience for all participants. It is
still a source of pride to know that we have
been able to improve an area in our neigh­
bourhood that had been neglected for years,
and to foster the sense of community and
collective satisfaction that it generates.
65