Technology in urban spaces to coax children and young people outdoors

If children and young people are to spend more time outdoors, we need to embrace technology and take advantage of the potential it offers in towns and cities, according to a design company that works to integrate technology in urban spaces

According to Ofcom in the United Kingdom, british teenagers spend an average of more than six hours a day in front of a screen. Not surprisingly, that doesn’t leave much time to enjoy fresh air in the park, city or forest. That’s a problem because a number of studies have shown that the wind, sun and blue sky have a positive impact on young people. That’s why technology needs to be better integrated into urban spaces – as recommended by Ib Mogensen, CEO of the award-winning design and furniture company out-sider – because young people are not going to be putting their computers or phones down any time soon:

“There’s no reason to believe that today’s children and young people are going to put down their smartphones, iPads or computers in favour of more fresh air – at least not right now. They need to be coaxed outdoors, so if we want them to spend more time in the open air, then we need to equip the outdoors to meet their needs.”

The technological solutions available for cities are gradually increasing. The range covers everything from solutions to get traffic flowing more smoothly, to public WiFi, to help finding an empty parking space. But it’s actually quite difficult to find a place to charge your phone. However, a new design tackles that problem. Plateau SunHub is an integrated technology solution that forms a table/bench set that provides power, light, Bluetooth and speakers all around the table.

Fresh air is gold
The table, with its integrated technology, aims to be an outdoor gathering place, as the expanded functions encourage people to spend more time around the table and therefore more time together. Surveys have previously shown that fresh air improves student performance. Therefore, the classroom and group work can benefit from being expanded to the outdoor space at schools, colleges and universities. That way you can actively use fresh air to improve the concentration and creativity of students. And out-sider has previously been successful in using design to coax young people outdoors. One example of that is Skørping Skole, where, in collaboration with students and architects, they designed the school playground to make it more appealing for young people to use.

But the table can also allow more time for families to make use of urban spaces, according to Ib, who personally came up with the idea for intelligent furniture:

“We’re always demanding more time with our children, and this design makes it easier to leave the four walls of your home behind and spend Sunday on a family picnic. Nowadays we simply spend time together as a family in a different way. Now the students can do their homework, and the little ones can get their iPads out when they lose interest in the conversation at the table,” he says, adding: “You can also fight a little about who will get to play their favourite music from the table’s speaker.”

Danish municipalities are actively working on intelligent, technological and data-driven solutions, so the future will offer even more technology in the urban landscape. And we should embrace this trend, according to Ib: “We need to use technology wisely, and we want it to be increasingly based on the needs of citizens, and thus users.”

The outdoor space of the future requires dynamic solutions
out-sider’s solutions focus on the fact that the framework we create for a space is about to change again. Nothing is forever anymore, and so it’s important that furniture can also be adapted to different settings. This is one of the reasons why technological solutions for urban spaces also need to be independent of stationary power sources and routers. The design and furniture company has just launched its PLATEAU SunHub, which allows you to be online and charged up all day long – outdoors. And that’s only possible because the SunHub is solar-powered. It also means that you can position the table/bench set wherever the need arises. As long as the sun’s rays can reach the table.

“Today it’s crucial for sustainability that the things in which we invest are not limited to being used in one specific way. Our furniture can form part of a myriad of different solutions because it can be moved and is not dependent on stationary power sources,” explains Ib.