SKATEPARKS
SKATEPARKS SHOULD BE VIEWED AS PUBLIC HEALTH RESOURCES - WHERE YOUNG PEOPLE GO TO HONE DEXTERITY, STRENGTH AND FITNESS TOGETHER
POSITIONING
Site selection is a major determinant of the success of the park for author- ities, the end-users, and the wider community. The most common anxiety for non-users is noise. While studies have shown that concrete skateparks are not as noisy as many fear, only a slight disturbance to local residents can dramatically alter how the park and its users are perceived. Suffi cient spacing from local resi- dences and businesses, possibly with the proper use of noise mitigation measures, ensure that wider commu- nities appreciate, rather than resent, the space and its users. Indeed, sen- sitivity to the wishes of diverse groups helps render skateparks as a pub- lic utility. As Jean Griffet, an expert of youth cultures and urban spaces, said of the famous Marseille skatepark: “Participants and their parents, passers-by and the simply curious rep- resent the different users of the site. The scenery and the resulting atmos- phere conjure a particular fl avour of the place: a place where one can relax, stimulate or be stimulate.”
RISKS AND BENEFITS In the Journal of Emergency Medicine (Vol 23, Issue 3, Oct 2002), Worth W. Everett writes that a “damaging preju- dice is the notion that skateboarding is an unsafe sport. When compared to other recreational activities, skate- boarding has a small percentage of reported injuries per participant (.49 per cent) than other activities, including soccer (.93 per cent) and basketball (1.49 per cent). Wheeled sports aren’t danger-free, but they've been shown to be at least as safe as other popular sports. The places where these sports are practised should be seen as public health resources rather than a risk. They're places of energy and exertion, where young people go to hone dexter- ity, strength and fi tness together (even though they may not see it like this). The benefi ts of popular skateparks not only health-based. Gary Cairns, a
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police community support offi cer working in Dawlish said in an interview with the park manufacturer Wheelscape that “we (the police) haven’t had yet one call from a Dawlish resident complaining about skate- boarding since the opening of the park. This means the workload over any given weekend has been cut by 30 per cent".
Skatepark advocates also
report that their local parks enhance public and private revenues. Brian Stephens, trustee of Wheeled Sports for Hereford, the com- munity group behind the skatepark there, says: “The skatepark is bring- ing in economic benefi ts to Hereford. It’s increas- ing the footfall in the city as parents come to Hereford to shop because they can drop off their youngsters in the park. Users are coming to Hereford from all over, including London, Brighton, Newport and staying over in local accommodation.”
Parks may be used by BMX bikers, skateboarders and roller-bladers - creating a meeting space for youths
IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION Clearly, however, all these potential benefi ts rely on a park being popular with users themselves. At least initially, it is diffi cult for many non-skatepark-using stakehold- ers to grasp just how varied tastes in skatepark design are, or to see what differentiates a top-fl ight park from a third-rate space. Why one park might be more popular than another is not always obvious to non-users. There are myriad styles of concrete park: bowls, plaza-style street, ramp- (transition) only parks. Some user groups will want a transition-only park that, once built, is expanded due to popularity; in other areas, it's possible
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that the same skatepark might go all but unused.
If skatepark users value their local park – if they feel that it’s the park they worked for; that it’s their park - they can be expected to maintain it by sweeping away rocks and other debris, to stop graffi ti appearing on the ramps, and generally ensure that the park is used as intended: as a space for developing within a sport, and to provide a place of spectacle and excitement. A number of academic studies have attested to skateparks as being places that users learn. However, unwanted skateparks go
underused, and often quickly degen- erate. This is not necessarily, or even usually, through vandalism. Even well positioned, designed and built
ISSUE 1 2012 © cybertrek 2011
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