Abstract
This paper describes an application of Work Domain Analysis (WDA) to support urban planning decisions regarding play. The study sought to determine whether WDA offers greater insight to the design requirements of playgrounds. A new understanding of the important interdependencies of objects and functional purposes of playgrounds is revealed. Constraints, complexity, and emergent behaviours are not necessarily concepts associated with urban design challenges; however this paper evidences that they have much to offer if considered within a sociotechnical systems framework.