CREATING HEALTHY LANDSCAPES, CREATING HEALTHY CHILDREN: A DESIGN FOR EASTWYCK VILLAGE by SHANNON BAZAR ZAHRN (Under the Direction of Marianne Cramer) ABSTRACT Eastwyck Village, a townhouse cooperative in urban Decatur, Georgia, is examined for potential play locations for children. Theories on child development are reviewed and developmental needs are addressed for children ages 2 to 13. Children’s play and play spaces from colonial times to today are also introduced. Washington Elementary Environmental Yard and Oakhurst Community Garden demonstrate successful children spaces and are used as case studies for design suggestions at Eastwyck Village. INDEX WORDS: Eastwyck Village, Decatur, Georgia, children, playgrounds, child development, Playground Movement, Washington Elementary Environmental Yard, Oakhurst Community Garden Project CREATING HEALTHY LANDSCAPES, CREATING HEALTHY CHILDREN: A DESIGN FOR EASTWYCK VILLAGE by SHANNON BAZAR ZAHRN B.A., Sweet Briar College, 1999 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2005 © 2005 Shannon Bazar Zahrn All Rights Reserved CREATING HEALTHY LANDSCAPES, CREATING HEALTHY CHILDREN: A DESIGN FOR EASTWYCK VILLAGE by SHANNON BAZAR ZAHRN Major Professor: Marianne Cramer Committee: Maryanne Akers David Berle Matt Forshee Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2005 iv DEDICATION To Catherine for your support through every step of this dance. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With much gratitude, I would like to thank my wife, Catherine, for her support, patience, and love during the course of writing this thesis. I thank her for her sacrifices throughout this process. I would also like to thank Gracie for her faithful encouragement and early morning meetings. Many thanks to Heather McLeod for her professional assistance and enduring friendship. I would like to thank Marianne Cramer for her guidance and insight throughout this process. Working with her has been a significant learning experience. Sincere appreciation goes out to my reading committee for their valuable time and advice. Lastly, I would like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and faith in me. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION............................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 EASTWYCK VILLAGE, DECATUR, GEORGIA ......................................................3 AREA OVERVIEW..................................................................................................3 EASTWYCK VILLAGE ..........................................................................................7 3 EASTWYCK VILLAGE: EXISTING CONDITIONS...............................................11 SURROUNDING LAND USE ...............................................................................11 INVENTORY AND SITE ANALYSIS..................................................................16 4 CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND PLAY......................................................................34 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT .................................34 PLANNING FOR PLAY ........................................................................................43 5 CHILDREN’S PLAY ENVIRONMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES ....................54 FINDING PLAY IN WORK: PLAY IN THE UNITED STATES BEFORE THE 1900S..............................................................................................54 ALL WORK AND NO PLAY: CHILDREN’S LIVES DURING vii INDUSTRIALIZATION.........................................................................................56 GYMNASTICS AND RECREATION...................................................................61 FOR THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE: A PUBLIC PARK.................................63 A PLACE TO PLAY: THE FIRST ORGANIZED PLAYGROUNDS..................66 A FOCUS ON DESIGN AND TRANSFORMATION OF FORM........................70 NATURE’S PLAYGROUND: BACK TO PICKING BERRIES ..........................79 6 HEALTHY CHILDREN THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: CASE STUDIES............................................................................81 CASE STUDY #1: LEARNING FROM NATURE: SCHOOL YARD HABITATS................................................................................82 CASE STUDY #2: RECONNECTING CHILDREN WITH NATURE ................95 7 DESIGN PROPOSAL AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................112 GUIDING PRINCIPLES ......................................................................................113 ECOLOGICAL ENHANCEMENT ......................................................................116 CIRCULATION....................................................................................................124 LEISURE SPACES...............................................................................................125 SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................136 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................140 TABLE CREDITS.......................................................................................................................149 FIGURE CREDITS .....................................................................................................................150 APPENDIX..................................................................................................................................156 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Figure 2.3: DeKalb County Environmental Programs.....................................................................6 Figure 4.2: Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development............................................................36 Figure 4.3: Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development ........................................................37 Figure 4.4: Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development................................................................40 Figure 4.6: Anticipated Development By The Age Of Two..........................................................47 Figure 4.7: Anticipated Development For Ages Three to Five .....................................................48 Figure 4.8: Anticipated Development For Ages Six to Eight .......................................................50 Figure 4.9: Anticipated Development For Ages Nine to Thirteen.................................................52 Figure 6.12: Criteria For Site Design ..........................................................................................88 Figure 6.13: Outdoor Play and Learning Settings .........................................................................89 Figure 6.40: Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation grant initiative ............................................110 Figure 7.5: FloodPlain Resotration Area Developmental and Play Value Opportunities ...........118 Figure 7.10: Rain Garden Plants..................................................................................................121 Figure 7.15: Community Center Area Developmental and Play Value Opportunities................126 Figure 7.18: Community Garden Area Developmental and Play Value Opportunities ..............129 Figure 7.21: Planted Playscape Area Developmental and Play Value Opportunities .................131 Figure 7.25: Non-Toxic Sensory Plants.......................................................................................133 Figure 7.28: Built Playscape Area Developmental and Play Value Opportunities ....................136 ix LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 2.1: Henry County (1895), Hall’s Original County Map of Georgia ...................................4 Figure 2.2: Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia ................................................................................5 Figure 2.4: 1940 aerial of DeKalb County.......................................................................................7 Figure 2.5: 1960 aerial of DeKalb County.......................................................................................7 Figure 2.6: Eastwyck Village, 1966 ................................................................................................8 Figure 2.7: Eastwyck Village entrance sign today ..........................................................................8 Figure 2.8: A landscape management plan......................................................................................9 Figure 2.9: Landscape management plan inventory results...........................................................10 Figure 3.1: Fencing off neighbors..................................................................................................12 Figure 3.2: Path to Wendy’s, south side of property ....................................................................12 Figure