The past decade has seen a revival in 1970s-style “playing out”, as kids reclaim our roads. Here’s a guide on which London boroughs are on board and how to do it yourself.

16 June 2023, Evening Standard

But in some areas of the capital “playing out” is making a comeback. Over the past decade a parent-led movement has started reclaiming residential roads as “Play Streets” and closing them off to traffic for a few hours on the weekend.

Play streets legislation first came into action in 1938 and hit its peak in the 1960s when Street Playground Orders applied to around 750 streets in England and Wales.

But according to Fiona Sutherland, deputy director of charity London Play, the practice began to fizzle out in the 1980s, and today cars have taken priority on our cities’ streets.

“We unearthed the dormant Play Streets legislation in 2012 and began working with councils and people to bring play back to the capital’s streets. Over the last decade we’ve seen a proper revival and now residents in 23 London boroughs can apply. We’re working on the remaining ten.”

According to Sutherland, for such a “simple intervention”, the benefits of Play Streets are huge for adults as well as children.

“Adults come out and gather on the street too which is great for tackling loneliness and strengthening relationships between neighbours. Children start to ‘knock’ for each other between sessions and it really brings communities together.”

Asked if people ever oppose Play Streets, Sutherland said while the large majority of a street will back the idea there will usually be around one per cent of people who oppose it.

“The way we see it is that children are the ones who have sacrificed play space and independence for cars. This is a small tip of the balance back in their favour.”

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