The inquiry ‘Children, young people and the built environment’ is looking at how ‘better planning and building and urban design in England could enhance the health and well-being of children and young people’. It is examining how children can use outside public spaces in their neighbourhoods, and the government’s role improving the built environment.
Experts from the DECP have stressed the importance of play on children’s development and expressed concern about decreasing daily opportunities for play in children’s lives in recent years, and limited spaces for children to access which promote play.
They highlight that additional factors, such as poverty and limited outdoor play spaces further reduce opportunities for play for children from disadvantaged and deprived backgrounds, which has a significant impact on development.
Dr Melernie Meheux, a member of DECP’s committee and an expert on play, said:
“Play is a critical part of children’s development. It helps them to develop relationships, social skills, physical skills and to have fun and regulate their emotions, which reduces the impact of the everyday pressures to which children are increasingly exposed.
