Dear readers,

To play is to be. Play helps learning, it’s not an escape from learning. Play teaches children (and adults) about their surroundings, their world, nature, society, relationships, and more. But play has been deprioritised, especially in cities where space is a convenient constraint. Can we recognise children’s right to play and the role it plays in their lives, their physical and mental well-being? The United Nations, while marking the first International Day of Play on June 11 last year, stated that play is “a universal language spoken by people of all ages, transcending national, cultural, and socio-economic boundaries”. With summer and vacations upon us, against the backdrop of war, Question of Cities delves into various aspects of play.

The lead essay by Shobha Surin and Jashvitha Dhagey asks how children in conflict zones, during war, play – or do not play. When sirens blare, homes are blacked out, drones and war planes hover in the skies above, and shelling punctures the peace of the night, as it happened with the India-Pakistan war this May, among other fallouts are severe restrictions on play and the setback to children’s mental health. Being safe takes priority and play becomes a luxury. But as they process the trauma of violence and pick up the pieces, play can also become an important mode of expression, a route to mental well-being. Read it here.

What started out as a project in Delhi to make a school zone safer for children and more meaningful for the community, with children co-designing and reimagining it, has spread to ten schools, touching thousands of young ones, writes social innovator Ruchi Varma who helmed it. Making children visible, taking their ideas and plans on board, allowing them to drive the process of co-designing 250 metres of school zones has not only made the space safer but created sharing and joy in the community around. Authorities are on board and it has demonstrated to children that change is possible. Read it here.

Pushed into congested homes in the city’s margins, the children of the resettlement colony in Bengaluru’s Laggere have evolved their own ways to play. Narrow streets are play spaces, play is crafted from waste, and toys bought with borrowed coins – all facilitated by a shopkeeper who gets them goods, a bicycle lender who converts scrap into functional cycles, and a tanpura player who crafts instruments they can afford. Ananya Ajatasatru, Anuja Bhandari, Astha Sharma, Laaraib Ghazi, Pema Bhutia, and Sabarinath D, fellows at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, collaborated as a team on a video film about it. Read it here.

In national emergencies such as pandemics, natural disasters, and war-like situations, it is the physical and social fabric that keeps the society together and also safeguards the mental well-being of children, writes developmental behavioural pediatrician Dr Samir Dalwai. Even otherwise, they require spaces that cater to their unique developmental needs – playgrounds, parks, community centres, and safe pedestrian pathways. They need green spaces to mitigate urban stressors, reduce digital over-exposure, and promote real-world engagement for mental health. Such spaces at home, in schools, and society should be carefully curated, he suggests. Read it here.

As cities expand, the number of open spaces and in-between spaces for play are shrinking. Playgrounds and gardens are an afterthought. Mumbai has seen creative ways to resist the erasure of spontaneous play emerge despite the incessant construction, congestion, and destruction of trees. Architects and urbanists Martina Maria Spies and Pritika Akhil Kumar, who researched three areas of Mumbai for their book Cult of Play, speak to Question of Cities about how play shapes children in informal settlements and why play is not a luxury. Read it here.

Urban spaces are currently spaces of adult hegemony designed for their work and mobility. Even when play spaces are built, they are for children but adolescents are usually left out, argues architect Virajitha Chimalapati. India is home to nearly 253 million adolescents with caste and gender factors complicating the social group. They need play spaces, urban spaces, to learn about the world and their autonomy, negotiate their place in it, and build social connections. Bhubaneswar has taken first steps but there’s a long way to go, she writes. Read it here.

In our regular section, News Digest, read interesting stories from across the world including Kerala’s strategy to drive climate action; Canada’s deadly wildfire; how extreme climate events are a threat to bananas.

Hope you find this edition engaging and worthwhile. We would love to hear from you at  [email protected]. If you haven’t yet subscribed to Question of Cities, do so here and share our work on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Thank you,
Smruti
May 16, 2025