Gerben Helleman
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gerbenhelleman.bsky.social
Gerben Helleman
@gerbenhelleman.bsky.social
Posts about the connections between the Planned and the Lived City #playfriendlycities #childfriendlycities #publicspace #cities #outdoorplay #play #childhood #geographer #playspaces #childrensgeographies #urbanism #urbanplanning #citylife #citiesforpeople
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Let’s make more #childfriendly and #playfriendly districts! This model will give you guidance and inspiration. With 💯measures for stimulating active free play in #cities around the world:
urbanspringtime.blogspot.com/playablecities
#publicspaces #outdoorplay #kids #childfriendlycities #playspaces
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Get outside kids, enjoy the fresh air with your friends!
Just kidding, stay the F inside.
November 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Making parks and similiar public spaces safer and more inclusive for women and girls @makespaceforgirls.bsky.social www.greenflagaward.org/resources/sa...
Safer Parks for Women and Girls
Safer Parks for Women and Girls
www.greenflagaward.org
October 25, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
[Ipswich, Australia:] New playground equipment encourages children to learn through 'risky play' www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Adventurous play the new normal as kids take to 'risky' new equipment
'Cliff riders' have sparked concern among some community members, but 20 have been installed across the country in an effort to help children learn through risk-taking.
www.abc.net.au
November 12, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Waarom kinderen in de modder mogen spelen: "Een té steriele omgeving is slecht voor het immuunsysteem"

Buitenspelen is cruciaal voor het immuunsysteem van jonge kinderen. In aanraking komen met modder, wilde planten en mos heeft positieve effecten op de gezondheid.
www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/20...
Waarom kinderen in de modder mogen spelen: "Een té steriele omgeving is slecht voor het immuunsysteem" | VRT NWS: nieuws
Buitenspelen is cruciaal voor het immuunsysteem van jonge kinderen. In aanraking komen met modder, wilde planten en mos heeft positieve effecten op de gezondheid. Dat vertelt Irina Spacova, onderzoeks...
www.vrt.be
November 14, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
The resident saw on their security camera that a bear was trying to play on the outdoor swing every day, but was unable to climb in. So they built a bigger swing.
October 12, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Unsupervised outdoor play is proven to benefit children's wellbeing, but research shows that the number of children playing outside is declining.

Find out more with the Commons Library's new briefing on children, young people and the built environment: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
October 23, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
The number of children injured or killed by cars while walking or riding a bike has fallen steadily since the 1970s, but CDC researcher note that this decline is not because streets are safer, but because fewer kids are out and about in the first place.
Kids need freedom. Dangerous roads make it hard to grant it.
Bigger cars, distracted drivers and worried parents mean fewer kids are roaming freely.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
"Public spaces that actively include people are an antidote to politics that exclude people." @ethankent.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/pulse/progre...
Progress In the Places People Love Will Persevere
How MAGA Could Be Helping to Bring About the Future They Most Fear(But Shouldn’t) America’s story of progress has been driven by people and places building each-other up. That progress, though under a...
www.linkedin.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Cars versus kids: How resistance to change limits children’s right to the city (hint - it's #CarBrain): theconversation.com/cars-versus-... 1/2
Cars versus kids: How resistance to change limits children’s right to the city
Through a long history of prioritizing cars in our cities, we have normalized not seeing or hearing children on our streets.
theconversation.com
September 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Car Free Day brought new energy to @citywestminster.bsky.social streets 🌍✨

Families celebrated the launch of Play Streets with traffic-free play, cycling & community fun.

Check out what happened & learn how to join the movement 👇
zurl.co/jafbD

#ActiveWestminster #CarFreeDay #PlayStreets
September 25, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
🎉 It’s here 🎉

The 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play is officially live!

Packed with new insights, sector-specific recommendations, and grounded in 9 key themes, this updated Statement is your go-to guide for supporting active outdoor play for all! 🌿

www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/aop10/
September 25, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
"The power of play." 🛝⚽️ New research emphasises the importance of designing outdoor play spaces in cities to create community ties and nurture child development.

– from IOE, @uclengineering.bsky.social & @bihr.bsky.social
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/sep/...
Space for play is being ‘designed-out’ of urban childhoods 
Children growing up in British cities face barriers to safe, playable spaces as financial constraints, policy misalignment and housing pressures cause planners to prioritise property over parks,
www.ucl.ac.uk
September 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
September 9, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
"A mural of the Statue of Liberty in shame" by JDL Street Ar in Lille , Roubaix France 🇫🇷
August 29, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Is it possible that…urbanism is a winning strategy in cities?
August 28, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
"The kids get to play out and they haven't got cars interfering with them, and everybody gets to have a good time … People also get to meet each other, neighbours you've probably not spoke to and it's good for the community."

PLAY STREETS:

GOOD FOR KIDS, GOOD FOR COMMUNITIES

👊
August 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
August 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
It was awesome collaborating with @tomflood.bsky.social on this project. So cool to see this up!
August 20, 2025 at 3:23 PM
And suddenly the market square in #Delft (The Netherlands) becomes an open-air cinema...
#placemaking #publicspace
#urbanphotography #streetphotography #cinema
August 19, 2025 at 7:27 PM
This is the 'Gelbe Affe' (Yellow Monkey) in #Düsseldorf, #Germany. This #mural was created in 2012 by the Majo Brothers, an artistic duo consisting of Marc and Joe Hennig.
#streetphotography
#urbanphotography
#urbanart #streetart
#graffiti #Deutschland
August 18, 2025 at 3:05 PM
With a little imagination you can sit anywhere and enjoy your drink and each other.
📍 #Innsbruck, Austria
#streetphotography
#urbanphotography
#humansofbluesky
#publicspace
#urbanism
#placemaking
#Österreich
August 16, 2025 at 5:04 PM
#Paris, the City of Love❤️, City of Lights💡, Capital of Fashion👗, City of Art🎨, but in my opinion also the City of #Publicspace🌳. What a wonderful city to sit, relax, stroll, and play guitar...
(🧵1/3)
#streetphotography
#humansofbluesky
@ppsplacemaking.bsky.social
@sociallifeproject.bsky.social
August 15, 2025 at 3:56 PM
"Children play anywhere and everywhere" is a famous quote from Colin Ward (1978). An observation that still applies.
#childfriendly #play #children #library #slide #humansofbluesky
August 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Gerben Helleman
Inaugurated at the world’s first “Swimmable Cities” summit in May, Rotterdam’s Rijnhaven—once an industrial port on the south bank of the Nieuwe Maas River—is now a designated (free) public swimming area complete with a floating pontoon park; the only legal place to swim outdoors in the city centre.
August 10, 2025 at 1:06 PM