Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cities journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Young children's and adults' perceptions of natural play spaces: A case study of Chengdu, southwestern China Xia Wang a , Helen Woolley b , Ya Tang a,⁎ , Hsiao-yi Liu b , Yuyan Luo a a College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, No 24, South Section One, First Ring Road, Chengdu 610065, China b Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Urbanization China Young children Outdoor play Nature Kindergardens ABSTRACT Urbanization has resulted in children in many cities being separated from contact with nature, despite the many benefits that this can provide for play and learning. Influenced by research and practice from the ‘west’ there is increasing evidence that in recent years these benefits for young children are being acknowledged and expressed in policy and practice in China. Chengdu, a rapidly expanding city in the south-west of China, has playgrounds in public spaces dominated by the Kit, Fence, Carpet approach but also has some kindergartens with a more natural approach, which supports a higher play and educational value. Nothing is known of parents' perceptions of different approaches to the provision of playgrounds and this paper seeks to begin to fill this gap. It reports on research with parents and young children at two kindergartens in Chengdu that sought to understand parents' perceptions of different playground styles, aesthetics and play risk associated with the different styles and children's perceptions of different playground styles. The results of an on-line questionnaire revealed that over 87% of the parents understood and recognized the benefits of natural elements within a playground. Vegetation and water were the most popular elements followed by sand and stone, landform and then insects and small animals. Physical and creative developments were the two most recognized development functions of natural elements acknowledged by the parents. Images of different playground styles were used with both adults and children and revealed that both groups tended to select a natural style with parents more inclined to select a higher degree of nature than children. Parents also considered that more natural playgrounds to be of low risk and attractive to look at. Two policy changes in China make this work of great significance: the change from one to two-child policy and the introduction of a natural education approach. The resultant increased numbers of children in future will benefit if the positive findings of this research inform policy and practice. 1. Introduction 1.1. Introducing the relationship of children and nature The importance of nature for children's play, development and being as individuals is increasingly acknowledged by a growing body of international scholarly literature, in particular from North America, Europe and Scandanavia (Lester & Maudsley, 2007). Children enjoy playing with and using natural elements (Titman, 1994) and educa- tionalists put great value on learning from direct experience of nature (Fjørtoft & Sageie, 2000; Malone & Tranter, 2003). Benefits for children accessing natural environments (Lester & Maudsley, 2007) can include increased confidence, independence, development of motor skills and reduction of symptoms of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (Fjørtoft, 2004; Grahn, Martensson, Linblad, Nilsson, & Ekma, 1997; Murray & O'Brien, 2005; Taylor, Kuo, & Sullivan, 2001; Wells & Evans, 2003). The availability of nature can also improve language and col- laborative skills, foster more imaginative and creative play (Fjørtoft & Sageie, 2000; Moore & Wong, 1997) and advance an in- dividual's intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and physical devel- opment (Kellert, 2005). In China little evidence exists about the re- lationship of children and nature but there is a suggestion that contact with insects and small animal habitats can contribute to emotional development (Wang & Liu, 2015), an aspect not identified elsewhere in the world. 1.2. Playgrounds: an opportunity to reconnect children with nature? Across the world urbanization has resulted in higher density housing, increased transportation, industry, associated pollution and changes in technology. These environmental and technological changes have been accompanied by a reduction in children's independent http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2017.08.011 Received 15 February 2017; Received in revised form 31 July 2017; Accepted 14 August 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: tangya@scu.edu.cn (Y. Tang). Cities 72 (2018) 173–180 0264-2751/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. MARK