Page 144 - JCAU-7-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Culture & play in Xi’an’s parks: 7Cs evaluation

exploration require improvement. However, their concerns coverage, framework adaptability, and methodological
diverge. Parents focus on the lack of physical activity approaches.
facilities, while experts highlight the absence of progressive To address these limitations and the complex
play design strategies that provide gradual levels of requirements of designing children’s play spaces in heritage
challenge. Additionally, experts stress the balance between parks, future research can be expanded and deepened in
cultural authenticity and functional needs, whereas parents several directions. First, broadening the scope of research
prioritize immediate usability and immersive engagement to include comparisons between heritage parks and other
for children.
park types—such as general urban parks or child-friendly
These differences offer valuable insights for the city pilot projects—could reveal universal principles for
development of child-friendly heritage parks. First, integrating cultural expression with functionality. Second,
achieving a balance between cultural representation and long-term dynamic data collection could provide insights
interactive experiences is essential—play spaces should into the effects of seasonal changes, festive events, and
not only showcase heritage themes but also incorporate peak usage periods on play space usage patterns, providing
diverse interactive elements that enhance children’s scientific evidence for adaptive design strategies.
engagement and curiosity. Second, play facilities must cater
to children of different age groups, ensuring that older Additionally, the 7Cs framework could be optimized
children have access to more challenging and exploratory and expanded to better suit the cultural context of heritage
play opportunities rather than focusing solely on basic parks by incorporating dimensions such as cultural depth
play structures for younger children. Third, safety and or historical continuity, enabling a more comprehensive
accessibility remain key concerns for parents, making it evaluation of the integration of cultural elements and
essential to optimize spatial layout, ensure clear sightlines, functional design. Furthermore, integrating geographic
and design convenient pathways that facilitate supervision information systems, behavior tracking technologies, or
and ease of movement. Finally, the planning process should big data analytics could enhance precision in analyzing
integrate insights from both parents and experts, fostering user behavior and spatial usage patterns.
multidisciplinary collaboration and child-participatory Since children are the primary users of play spaces,
design to create more inclusive, interactive, and culturally future research should prioritize their subjective
enriching heritage park play spaces. experiences and needs. Methods such as behavioral
observations, focus group discussions, and child-friendly
4.4. Limitations and future outlook
interviews could provide deeper insights into age-specific
This study has several limitations. First, the scope of requirements, leading to more informed design strategies
the research is relatively narrow, focusing on only three that accommodate diverse user needs.
heritage parks, without including other types of parks or
broader urban cases. This limits the generalizability of 5. Conclusion
the findings, particularly when applied to comparative Using the 7Cs framework, this study provides an in-depth
analyses of different types of parks. Second, data collection analysis of children’s play spaces in heritage parks in
was concentrated during specific seasons and periods, Xi’an, uncovering both the challenges and potential of
failing to fully capture the effects of seasonal variations, existing designs. The findings highlight the complexity of
festive activities, or different time periods on children’s integrating cultural elements with functional requirements,
play space usage patterns. This results in a lack of temporal demonstrating that children’s play spaces serve not only as
representativeness in the study’s conclusions. Moreover, vehicles for cultural transmission but also as vital platforms
while the 7Cs framework effectively evaluates the physical for fostering social inclusion and innovation.
design of play spaces and user behavior, its applicability in
assessing the depth of cultural expression and the dynamic Future designs should move beyond a focus on
integration of culture and functionality in heritage contexts physical spatial characteristics to incorporate dynamic
remains limited. Further exploration is needed to extend the cultural experiences and multidimensional opportunities
framework’s applicability to historical and cultural settings. for exploration and play. Such spaces should foster
Finally, considering children’s limited ability to articulate cultural engagement, stimulate creativity, and address
their experiences, data collection relied on parental and the diverse needs of various user groups. Achieving this
expert perspectives rather than direct input from children. vision requires designers to integrate cultural sensitivity
This limits the depth of understanding regarding children’s with social innovation and technological advancements,
authentic experiences. These limitations suggest significant creating spaces that are educational, interactive, and
opportunities for future research to refine scope, temporal sustainable.

Volume 7 Issue 3 (2025) 13 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.8296