This week on Play Attention, Beth is joined by India-based landscape architect Parth Divekar, founder of Grade Landscape Architecture, whose work spans luxury residential developments, public landscapes and civic projects across the country.

Having grown up in India, studied at Cornell University and worked on landmark projects in the United States - including the Gathering Space Playground in Tulsa - Parth brings a unique perspective on how culture, childhood and urbanisation shape the way we design places for play.

Together, Beth and Parth explore what designers can learn from different cultures, why play should be viewed as a fundamental quality of landscape rather than a designated space, and how rapidly growing cities like Mumbai are forcing us to rethink childhood, community and public life.

This is a conversation about far more than playgrounds. It's about the environments that shape us, and the responsibility designers have in creating places where children, families and communities can thrive.

What else you'll hear:

• Why Parth believes "play is the most fundamental thing of spaces."
• Growing up in India and how childhood has changed in just one generation.
• What studying and practising in the United States taught him about landscape architecture.
• Why landscape architects should design entire landscapes - not just playgrounds - to encourage play.
• The relationship between aesthetics, luxury residential development and meaningful play.
• Why unresolved landscapes encourage imagination, exploration and critical thinking.
• What landscape architects around the world can learn from India's rapidly changing cities.
• Why "play is not sport" - and why one cannot replace the other.
• The importance of designing for agency, risk and discovery.

Find out More:

GLA Studio

The Gathering Place, Tulsa

Waller Creek Park

Play Attention is a podcast from Timberplay - exploring the thinkers, designers and changemakers shaping the future of play.

Hosted by Beth Cooper, Independent Play Consultant.

Theme music by Dave Mullen Jnr

Connect with Timberplay:
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Timberplay

"You can have the most beautifully designed play space, but if the adults standing around the outside are flooded with anxiety, that is going to impact the function of that space."

In this episode of Play Attention, Beth Cooper is joined by Helen Dodd, Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter, and Dr Sarah-Louise Hurst, Clinical Psychologist and founder of Fortitude Mums.

Together, they discuss the Fear Less Play project, an innovative piece of research exploring the connections between adventurous play, parental anxiety and children's development.

Drawing on expertise in child psychology, mental health and play, they explore why risk is an essential part of childhood, how adults can support rather than limit children's opportunities for challenge, and what this means for the design of play spaces and the wider systems that shape children's opportunities to play.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why children need opportunities to experience risk and uncertainty through play.
• How parental anxiety can influence children's play experiences.
• What "graduated risk" means and why it matters.
• The role of adventurous play in building resilience and confidence.
• What designers, planners and local authorities can learn from the Fear Less Play research.

Find Out More:

Fortitude Therapy

Play Attention is a podcast from Timberplay - exploring the thinkers, designers and changemakers shaping the future of play.

Hosted by Beth Cooper, Independent Play Consultant.

Theme music by Dave Mullen Jnr

Connect with Timberplay:
Instagram
LinkedIn

Timberplay

In this episode of Play Attention, we sit down with Scott Chalmers, Head of Green Infrastructure at Urban&Civic, to challenge the assumption that play belongs in a designated, fenced-off area.

Drawing on years of experience delivering large-scale communities, Scott shares why play should never be “dropped in” to meet planning requirements, but embedded from the very first moment of design.

From removing fences and rethinking risk, to creating landscapes that invite people to stay, dwell, and connect, this conversation explores what happens when play is the foundation, not an afterthought.

You’ll hear:

• Why play space should be an open canvas, not a box to tick
• The reason fencing dominates playground design, and why it often points to a problem in the design process
• How nature, landscape, and play can work together to build stronger communities
• The commercial case for play, and why better spaces actually drive value
• What developers, planners, and designers need to do differently to raise the standard everywhere

Find out More:

Urban&Civic

Priors Hall Park

Play Attention is a podcast from Timberplay - exploring the thinkers, designers and changemakers shaping the future of play.

Hosted by Beth Cooper, Independent Play Consultant.

Theme music by Dave Mullen Jnr

Connect with Timberplay:
Instagram
LinkedIn

Timberplay