Girls and Skateparks: a Make Space for Girls Guide

Skateparks are seen as one of the "go to" solutions for teenage spaces. Many claims are made about the inclusive nature of skateparks and the low barriers to entry. In practice, however, skateparks tend to become spaces dominated by boys and young men.

This is not to say that a skate park might not be the right solution for a particular space and for a particular community. But it shouldn't be a question of simply assuming that skateparks are good provision for the majority of teenagers. We believe that decisions by councils and developers about whether to install or further invest in a skate park, where to site one and how to design one need to be made based on evidence about what does and doesn't work for teenagers of all genders.

If a council or developer wants to create an area that is likely to be dominated by boys and young men, then install a skate park- but do so knowing that this is the likely outcome.

We would also suggest looking at the blogs written by Jacqueline Collins from Auckland New Zealand and Professor Carrie Paechter from Nottingham University about their respective research into girls and skateboarding.