For Cities to Compete, They Need to Play

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Across the United States, urban leaders are implementing a powerful idea: To compete, they need play.

In order to attract and retain the businesses, jobs and residents who breathe energy and enterprise into their neighborhoods, they first need to foster family-friendly, kid-friendly environments that promote play everywhere, while addressing the needs of underserved communities.

At KaBOOM!, we call this idea playability, the extent to which a city makes it easy for all kids to get balanced and active play. Because play matters for all kids. And this week, in partnership with the Humana Foundation -- the philanthropic arm of Humana, Inc. -- our Playful City USA initiative is honoring 212 cities and towns in 43 states that make playability a part of their community-wide agenda.

Together, these communities represent the vanguard of a national playability movement. They are finding creative ways to meet the needs of families, grow their economies, and become more competitive. And, in the process, they are solving some of our nation's most pressing challenges on the scale that they exist.

For instance, these cities know that play can help young people manage toxic stress, an epidemic among children in low-income neighborhoods, and an issue at the heart of our work. This is why, in Washington D.C., the Play DC initiative is redefining playgrounds as community spaces in which young people can cope with and positively release their stress. It is why, in Brownsville, Texas -- recently named the poorest city in the country -- city leaders recently broke ground on the community's first walking trail and handicapped-accessible playground. Families that ordinarily would struggle to find safe, public opportunities to get active are now discovering that their city is making it easy for their kids to play everywhere.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darell-hammond/for-cities-to-compete-stem_b_5312886.html