Research Director:
Professor Yasuyuki Hirai, Faculty of Design　
Keywords:
inclusive, park, design

An inclusive park is defined as, “A place where all children can play and learn together with a variety of friends while exercising their potential with vitality irrespective of disability,” by Koji Yanagida, director of the Minna-no-Koen Project (Park for Everyone Project).

The inclusive park movement in Japan began in 2020 with the Kinuta Park in Tokyo. Meanwhile, in March 2022, the Inclusive Playground Development Policy Planning Committee was launched in Fukuoka (later changed to Inclusive Children’s Plaza, referred to as Planning Committee below), and I was involved in development policy planning as the committee chairman.

Accordingly, a development policy was announced in January 2023, and a plan was announced to develop inclusive children’s plaza in every ward in Fukuoka City. This grant project was a social activity to connect local residents, local government, and education in Minami Ward, one of those wards, through a study group focusing on Hibaru Sports Park. Under the project, development began in  Hibaru Sports Park, and workshops were held four times in November 2023. However, despite that everyone was well aware that cooperation between the community and local government was essential for the development of an inclusive children’s plaza that was highly accessible to users, no progress was made in discussions of developing a specific relationship. The biggest problem at this point was the limited experience in developing a plan together between local government and local residents and organizations. To address this, Kyushu University served as a socially neutral organization and launched study groups to connect the two sides with the support of Director Higashi of the Hibaru 6-chome resident’s association and Director Yoshida of the Hanahata Middle School PTA.

Study groups were held on five occasions after starting in January 2023, and a survey was issued to 1,300 local residents. We are moving forward with plans to host a symposium and workshops starting in May and later. The greatest accomplishment of this project was our ability to organize a study group including Fukuoka City, local self-government organizations, and inclusive design experts, and the development of a communication approach to call on local residents to participate.