**Acknowledgements**

In Slovakia, it is possible to notice also the trend of commercialization of playgrounds [22]. The children's play has shifted from the housing estates and neighborhoods playgrounds to the specialized purpose designed centers, provided by shopping centers, or by profit making organizations. The play often moves also indoor, to play zones of retail outlets, family pubs, restaurants. Parents restrict children to use the neighborhood space around the home, to protect them from perceived social dangers [23], and to regulate where children play. The trend toward transporting children to leisure and a drift from public toward the private provision of opportunities for leisure [22] has become characteristic for playground provision in Slovak urban environment, too. As technology evolves and becomes smarter, designing playgrounds for interaction with networks of devices has become more challenging, and using mobile phones becomes an important feature of the playgrounds [24]. However, the current trend of intelligent, interactive playgrounds, using advanced digital technologies [25, 26] is not observed, and not used,

**Figure 17.** The rubber surface is laid under the typified and standardized mass-produced play equipment in the

Successful playgrounds provide space for children's socialization, imaginative play and physical activity, provide social opportunities not only for children but also improve social cohesion between families and community members [27]. It is agreed that effective playgrounds include natural elements, encourage interaction, are highly accessible for variety of user groups, include spaces for active play, provide risk and challenge, and are safe and free

These key components are considered crucial for the successful playgrounds: the design should be "tailor-made" to the playground to suit the environment in which it will be placed, the playground should be placed as to be readily accessible to all, and close to the users, it should use the natural elements, the nature of the country and surrounding plants, the playground should provide a wide range of experiences, including the selection of a variety of surfaces, textures, plants and a combination of free and organized areas. The playground

yet, in the public playgrounds of Slovak housing estates.

playground of the mass housing estate in Šaľa. Source: Photograph by author, 2018.

**5. Conclusion**

50 Housing

of hazards [27].

We would like to thank the Centre for Landscape Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, for providing support for this research, the Faculty of Architecture, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava for financial support, and to Juraj Illéš, who has contributed to the site research and data collection.
