Explaining and Evaluating the Effective Factors in Improving the Quality of Children’s Playgrounds in Cities with an Emphasis on Safety and Security Aspects of Children from Parents’ Viewpoint; Case study: Koodak Park of Isfahan

Abstract Childhood games are essential for the development of cognitive, psychological, and physical skills. Playgrounds are spaces that provide the required opportunity to develop the fundamental skills and needs of children, such as connections with nature, games, activities, and so forth. Therefore, the presence of children in these areas requires the provision of a safe and secure environment for them. Accordingly, this study aims at identifying factors affecting on the quality of children’s playground, evaluating the factors affecting the safety and security of children in playgrounds as one of the most important qualities of children’s play spaces, providing a design framework to enhance the safety and security of children in order to improve the quality of playgrounds. This study is practical in purpose, and descriptive-analytical in terms of research type. The exploratory factor analysis method has been used to achieve the research goal. In this project, the children’s play space in Koodak Park of Isfahan was investigated based on 35 effective indicators on children’s safety and security, and 300 of the parents of the kids playing in the park were questioned. According to the results of Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s tests, the sample size was approved for the research (KMO=0/746 & SIG=0/0001). The results of this research indicate that the factors affecting the safety and security of kids in the play area in Koodak Park are as follows: 1- Climatic tranquility in children’s  play spaces 2- The conditions of play space flooring 3- Children’s safety when using the play equipment and the green area embedded in it 4- The lighting of play spaces and the harmony with its vegetation 5- The distance from compatible applications and functions 6- The conditions of the presence of parents in the playground and its maintenance 7-The awareness of the conditions of the playground and its surrounding area among the users 8- The vulnerability of children regarding the play equipment and the vegetation 9-The possibility to monitor children and their activities in the playground 10- Different types of pollution in the play space and its vicinity. Finally, based on the findings and on the identification of the main weaknesses of this children’s playground, an effort has been made to make suggestions for addressing these issues so as to promote safety and security.