Since taking office, Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-che has been actively promoting the development of themed playgrounds in public parks. This is the new trend of playground development since the public expects the city to offer safe and interesting playgrounds which can stimulate the intelligence and physical strength of children. So far the Public Works Bureau has completed 14 themed public parks and 13 more are under construction or in the planning phase. After the Chinese New Year, the playground improvement construction project at Yongkang Park will begin. Citizens can look forward to a new themed playground in the latter half of the year.
The Public Works Bureau explained that nowadays parents are not satisfied with standardized playground equipment sets as they believe these uniform setups do not encourage children’s creativity and imagination. Parents are suggesting that in addition to being safe and interesting, playground equipment should also provide educational purposes in areas such as art, culture, entertainment, and physical training. Thus the Bureau invested NTD 8.8 million in the Yongkang Park playground improvement project to build a green belt recreation environment that is safe, comfortable, and also serves educational purposes.
The new landscape design integrates “close-to-nature” concepts into its playground equipment. Children are encouraged to use their imagination and invent new games in the sandbox and gravel playing areas. Activities such as sliding, climbing, and swinging stimulate the children’s imagination and sensory developments as well as the development of body movement and cognitive skills. The different play zones are linked together with simple paths and basic washing areas are available for children to clean themselves up.
As always, Yongkang Park is a popular destination during the Chinese New Year. To avoid disturbing visitor safety and the overall park scenery, the Public Works Bureau plans to start the construction on Feb. 7 and end the project by Sep. 30.