Playing

This chapter seeks to map the intersections of play, as a cultural practice, with public space. It begins by reflecting on definitions of play, arguing for a loose and subjective interpretation of play whilst holding, mostly, on to notions of fun, desire, and delight. The chapter then explores who plays, engaging with both the diversities of childhood play and the intersections with adult and intergenerational play. This leads into a discussion of play's geographies, focused on the multiple and shifting geographies of play in public space, querying the centrality of designated play spaces and seeking to value and pluralise play in public space. Play's geographies are always already articulated with questions of politics and rights, and these are explored in the following sections, engaging with questions of resistance, instrumentality, capabilities, claims, and contestations. The final section reflects on what happens when we play in public space, with a focus on encounters and affects, and the chapter concludes by restating the importance of play as ‘ordinary magic’ and the value of geography in mapping its complexities and vitalities.