About the Site | Community Engagement | Design Considerations | Participatory Co-design Process | Intergenerational Sharing | FAQ
Background & Objectives
Organised by JCDISI and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, this is an Action Project originated from the “Intergenerational Play Space” symposium conducted in 2019 under PolyU Jockey Club “Operation SoInno". It will be developed through evidence-based, cross-sector participatory design processes, conceptualising a user-centric intergenerational play space design that combines technology and sports. The aim is to reimagine Kowloon Park Fitness Trail and encourage public enjoyment from users of all ages, promote intergenerational play and enhance user well-being. With Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Architectural Services Department as Strategic Partners to provide technical advice, it is hoped that this collaboration would provide a reference design for the site’s future development, encourage cross-sector, cross-discipline knowledge creation and knowledge transfer, and support the scale-up of intergenerational play space schemes in Hong Kong.
The Action Project aims to produce an innovative implementable design scheme with an objective to:
- Provide an overall park environ that would increase elderly users’ confidence and incentivise them to take more outdoor physical exercise;
- Provide creative, safe and easy to maintain intergenerational play equipment and/ or feature that would enable intergenerational play and interactions. The equipment and/ or feature should be with aesthetic design and in harmony with the surrounding site context;
- Reinforce the positive behaviour of the elderly users by showing them evidence of the benefits to their wellbeing that they have been achieved by their utilisation of the intergenerational play space; and
- Produce a prototype that would facilitate the transformation and creation of more intergeneration play spaces in Hong Kong.
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The teams from Season 4 co-creation workshops have consolidated six Intergenerational Play Space design considerations.
Participatory Co-design Process
Co-creation and Symposium
Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Info Pack
Kowloon Park Co-creation Team Observations
Co-creation Concept Design Proposal (11.5.2019 & 18.5.2019)
Symposium Keynote Address
From Children’s Playground to Intergenerational Open Space
Mrs Doris Fok, Assistant Director (Leisure Services), Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Creating a Community that Promotes Ageing in Place and Intergenerational Harmony
Mr Wong Kit-loong, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Hong Kong Housing Society
Play with No Frontiers
Mrs Sylvia Lam, JP Director of Architectural Services, Architectural Services Department
Click the PDF Icon on the bottom-right of each image to find out more about Intergenerational Play topics
- Why is PolyU conducting the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Project?
The Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Project is a Proof of Concept study that is originated from JCDISI’s “One from Hundred Thousand” Season 4 Intergenerational Play Space Symposium (S4) in 2019.
With an objective to enhance the quality of open space in Yau Tsim Mong District 70 members of the community aged from 5 to 80 joined JCDISI’s S4 co-creation workshops in May 2019 to explore how we could reimagine and transform open space to support intergenerational play. Kowloon Park Fitness Trail (public park) and Prosperous Garden (privately-owned public space) were selected by JCDISI as real life case studies to understand users’ preference for play space that promotes intergenerational interactions and encourages social inclusion.
Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), Architectural Services Department (AchSD) and Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) were invited as strategic partners to co-create with our workshop participants and share venue management considerations in the transformation of open space. The two cases allowed us to explore the design considerations for different types of open space to increase the diversity and vibrancy of public parks for public enjoyment. Six design considerations were generated from the participatory co-design process to guide intergenerational play space designs. You may find more information about the co-creation workshops and symposium here: https://www.polyujcsoinno.hk/en/topic/s4/ig-playspace
To further explore the feasibility of developing an intergenerational play space in Hong Kong to incentivise our citizens to adopt a healthy ageing lifestyle, LCSD and ArchSD were again invited to be strategic partners of the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Action Project to provide technical advice and suggestions. Leveraging the success of the “Community Build Playground” initiative in designing the Tuen Mun Inclusive Playground, the parties agreed to collaborate with JCDISI through community participation and public engagement to reimagine the Fitness Trail to meet the needs of the users and make the facilities more innovative, and fun. To add more value to the project, JCDISI also formed a cross-disciplinary Intergenerational Play Space Panel (“IG Panel”) within PolyU to provide suggestions on how to create the environ, facilities, equipment and programme that would promote IG play, encourage physical activity of our citizens and improve the health and wellness of the elderly and children. It is hoped that this collaboration would encourage cross-sector, cross-discipline knowledge creation and knowledge transfer, and support the scale up of intergenerational play space schemes in Hong Kong.
The Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Design Consultancy Study is an Action Project under PolyU JCDISI’s “PolyU JC Operation SoInno” funded by Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (HKJC). “PolyU JC Operation SoInno” is a 3-year social innovation programme to innovate solutions, in collaboration with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, in response to ageing of people and buildings, with a view to improving life and alleviating social problem in Hong Kong.
- How advanced is the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail project, why have I never heard about it, despite you saying that the co-creation already took place in May 2019?
The Fitness Trail project has only just started.
The Fitness Trail project is an Action Project that is originated from Season 4 Intergenerational Play Space co-creation workshops and Symposium in 2019 to develop implementable prototype scheme to support the scale up of intergenerational play space in Hong Kong. Prosperous Garden Design Competition | HKHS Prosperous Garden, which was completed in Nov 2020, was the other Action Project from the symposium. Architecture Commons, the main design consultant of this Action Project, was selected through tender in November 2020 to be JCDISI’s Research and Development partner in developing this Proof of Concept study.
JCDISI openly called for members of the community to join our Season 4 Intergenerational Co-creation workshops through JCDISI promotional platform including EDM, Facebook and SoInno Website in February - March 2019. The recruitment of co-creation workshops and symposium were open to all, including users of all ages, cross-disciplined professionals and park managers. 70 members of the public joined the two day co-creation workshops in May 2019, you may find more details about the co-creation workshop here:
- What is the purpose of the Project?
The Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Action Project aims to develop new a play space design concept based on intergenerational play, health management and IoT integration to make the facilities more innovative, fun and to meet the needs of the users. The intergenerational play space design concept would ensure that people of all ages (Remark: The fitness trail (e.g. gradient) may not comply with the requirements as stipulated in the Design Manual: Barrier Free Access.) could enjoy a quality playspace to promote social inclusion and improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing.
The overall project scope of Intergenerational Play Space Project is to:
- Provide an overall park environ that would increase elderly users’ confidence and incentivise them to take more outdoor physical exercise;
- Provide creative, safe and easy to maintain IG play equipment and/ or features that would enable IG play and interactions. The equipment and/ or features should be with aesthetic design and in harmony with the surrounding site context;
- Reinforce the positive behaviour of the elderly users by showing them evidence of the benefits to their wellbeing that they have been achieved by their utilisation of the IG play space; and
- Produce a prototype that would facilitate the transformation and creation of more intergeneration play spaces in Hong Kong.
- What is the Project period, and when will the main engagement activities start?
The engagement event is scheduled to be held from January and April 2021, subject to further changes in light of the pandemic.
- What is the role of the LCSD and ArchSD in this project?
LCSD and ArchSD, as strategic partners of the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Action Project, will provide necessary information and technical advice to improve the adaptability and feasibility of the design scheme for implementation. The departments will also liaise with other government departments to provide advice on technical matters when required.
They will also join the community engagement activities as users of the facilities and project custodians to provide comments and improve the user experience post-implementation to ensure that park users can reap the most benefits from new intergenerational play space and facilities.
- Will the design scheme be implemented?
The Action Project is a Proof of Concept study to demonstrate how to design, implement, consult the public and manage the IG play space through cross-sector collaboration.
While the design team would be developing an implementable masterplan for the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail in collaboration with LCSD and ArchSD, there are no solid plans at present to implement the scheme in the immediate future. LCSD and ArchSD will further assess the feasibility of implementation after receiving the final report.
- How can I join the community engagement activities?
A QR Code link can be found on the posters at the entrances of Kowloon Park and along the trail. After filling in a user questionnaire you will be invited to provide your contact details so we could invite you to participate in our community engagement activities.
Alternatively, you can sign up for updates from the JCDISI website and Facebook page. You can directly contact the responsible staff listed on the poster for further information.
- How will my opinions be used after the community engagement activities?
The project is developed in the spirit of LCSD and ArchSD’s “Community Build Playground” initiative, where it aims to stimulate community engagement and participatory co-design to enhance the play experience of children.
This project extends the “Community Build Playground” initiative by encouraging people of all ages to have a say in developing a new typology of play space that support intergenerational interactions, health management and creative play. Your comments and suggestions will be incorporated in the Community Engagement Report of the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail Proof of Concept Study and form design parameters for designing and managing intergenerational play space as appropriate. We may also invite yourself back to provide more suggestions and comments in the prototyping stage to test play equipment designs.
Please check the box where you permit us to send you further information about our intergenerational play space events to participate in the next stages of the engagement activities.
- What is the role of the design consultant in this project?
The design consultant, Architecture Commons, will work in collaboration with JCDISI to lead the design and execution of the Proof of Concept Study. They will steer and manage the stakeholder engagement workshops to promote community engagement and participatory co-design in play space design. They will also work in hand with JCDISI in increasing the public’s awareness of the IG play space concept, including on social media platforms.
- If the scheme gets the go ahead, does it mean that the fitness trail will be turned into an IG play space, and thus, I can’t use this for my fitness training any longer?
The project focuses on enhancing the function and accessibility of the trail to intergenerational users to increase user utilisation. Catering to existing users’ needs is one of the key design parameters of the proposed design scheme. We therefore welcome users to actively participate in our community engagement activities to enable the design team to design and select appropriate play and fitness equipment that would allow existing users to continue enjoy the fitness trail, while diversifying intergenerational play opportunities to allow more users to enjoy the trail.
- What do you mean by IG play equipment? Does it mean that it is an extended children play area?
Extending the children play area is not the aim of the Kowloon Park Fitness Trail project. The study objective is to enhance the existing fitness trail through the intergenerational play concept to provide an inclusive environ for people of all ages and abilities, which means not only for children, but also includes the elderly. The design will consider the existing users’ needs and include the original function of fitness trail such as outdoor gym training and jogging in the proposal.
