AccScience Publishing / JCAU / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/jcau.8296
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The intersection of culture and play: Evaluating children’s play spaces in Xi’an’s parks using the 7Cs framework

Ke Chen1,2 Chengyun Zhang2 Mengyi Li2 Ruhizal Roosli1*
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1 School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
2 School of Architecture, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology Huaqing College, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Journal of Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, 8296 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.8296
Submitted: 30 December 2024 | Revised: 3 March 2025 | Accepted: 13 March 2025 | Published: 3 April 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

With rapid urbanization, children’s play spaces in Chinese parks face challenges related to functional monotony and a lack of cultural expression. This study examines heritage parks in Xi’an, one of China’s most historically significant cities, as case studies. Using a mixed-methods research approach and the 7Cs framework, we systematically evaluate these spaces to assess their effectiveness in meeting cultural and functional needs. The findings highlight several key shortcomings in current designs. First, an imbalance between static cultural displays and dynamic interactive elements limits children’s engagement and cultural immersion. Second, a lack of exploratory and challenging activities fails to meet the developmental demands of older children. Third, weak user participation mechanisms and inadequate feedback systems contribute to a misalignment between design intentions and actual user needs. To address these challenges, this article proposes integrating dynamic and interactive cultural displays, introducing multi-level exploratory and challenging features to accommodate diverse age groups, and enhancing user engagement and feedback systems throughout the design process. These recommendations aim to balance cultural preservation with modern usability, providing both theoretical insights and practical foundations for improving children’s play spaces in heritage parks while inspiring similar global efforts.

Keywords
Child-friendly city
Play spaces
7Cs framework
Heritage park
Evaluation
Funding
This study was funded by the Faculty Development Fund of Huaqing College, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, the Scientific Research Program of Huaqing College, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology (24KY01), the 2024 Shaanxi Provincial Sports Bureau Regular Project (20240162), and the Shaanxi Provincial Youth Research Program in Philosophy and Social Sciences.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Journal of Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, Electronic ISSN: 2717-5626 Published by AccScience Publishing