Happy Power Energy Playground: The Binlian New Village Case Study

echofline
Jul 1
9 min read

I. Project Background

Location and Community Profile

Binlian New Village, located in Haikou, Hainan Province, is a typical “urban village.” Dense mid-rise housing blocks crowd narrow alleyways, forming cramped living conditions for migrant worker families from all over China. Although the population is diverse, the neighborhood is vibrant. Purpose-built play areas for children are virtually absent; most kids run through hallways, rooftops, and lanes—or even wander into hazardous construction sites. The district is undergoing urban renewal: infrastructure is outdated, streets are tight, and half-dug roads or chaotic work zones are a common sight. Yet in this challenging environment, children still brim with energy and a strong desire to play.

Project Origins

The initiative grew out of Haikou’s community-level response to the citywide “Protect-the-Seedlings” campaign. Our team has a long-standing bond with Binlian New Village: members previously co-created spaces such as the “No-Walls Kindergarten” and “Banban Grocery,” and were invited to help produce the Wall-less Children’s Art Festival. Establishing the Happy Power Playground is a joint effort driven by the festival organizers and local authorities—an answer to children’s everyday right to play and a continuation of the community’s internal momentum.

Stakeholders

The project is spearheaded by Happy Power’s “Playground Without Walls” team in partnership with the Binlian New Village sub-district office and community committee. Supporting organizations include the David Graeber Institute, the Wall-less Children’s Art Festival team, and Binlian’s local volunteer network. Guided by a “community co-creation” ethos, we encourage residents, children, and young volunteers to collaborate in designing, building, and running the space.

II. Project Objectives

This initiative seeks to create an energy-autonomous playground co-built by the community, activating Binlian’s public-space potential through an innovative blend of energy harvesting + community co-creation + public interaction. The playground will empower children and residents alike, offering a safe, engaging, and sustainable venue for play and social exchange.

Key objectives include:

Build a self-sufficient play space
Establish a clean-energy playground that runs entirely on the power generated by children’s own play activities, without drawing on the municipal grid.
Empower children as protagonists
Invite kids to act as co-designers and engineers of the playground, leading the ideation and design process to strengthen their sense of agency and voice.
Foster community co-creation and participation
Engage residents and volunteers of all ages and backgrounds in building, maintaining, and using the facility, knitting stronger cross-generational ties.
Address challenging terrain and disaster risks
Employ modular equipment that can be assembled and disassembled quickly to fit the village’s tight, complex spaces, while ensuring structural stability and typhoon resistance.
Spark local economy and sustainable cycles
Channel the playground’s surplus energy into emergency power for the neighborhood and experiment with energy-for-credits schemes or interactive advertising screens to invigorate the community economy.

Design Concept & Implementation

Super-sized LEGO-style modularity
To cope with the tight spaces and management hurdles of an urban village, all equipment is built from portable modules that can be assembled and taken apart in a snap—easy to deploy, move, or scale.
Merging children’s fantasies with physical reality
We asked kids to describe their dream playground—the top request was a roller coaster. Given site limits, we broke the “coaster feeling” into four core sensations—weightlessness, dizziness, speed, and teamwork—and translated each into a signature installation:
- Seesaw-powered Ferris Wheel – cooperation + height
- Bicycle-driven Spin Disk – speed + centrifugal force
- Space Gyro – weightlessness + G-force
- Comic-strip Hamster Wheel – continuous motion + velocity
Fusing physics with art
Every device embeds fundamentals such as kinetic energy conversion, gravity, and centrifugal force, then wraps them in playful artistic forms, guiding children to learn and explore science naturally through play.

From Play to Disaster Resilience to Community Empowerment

In the autumn of 2023, a Category 17 typhoon tore through the urban village, destroying most of its basic infrastructure—yet the playground we had built emerged unscathed. During the ensuing blackout, we tapped the energy already stored in the play equipment to provide the neighbourhood with emergency power for the very first time. That moment became the spark that gave rise to the “Happy Power” concept.

Since then, we have realised that play is more than a child’s right; it can also be a forward-looking energy solution—a community-symbiosis experiment driven by joy. We are determined to keep pushing “play-generated energy” as a fresh gateway to disaster recovery, green power and local economic vitality.

III. Design & Construction Process

This project moved from concept to completion in record time through a blend of child co-creation + community participation + modular building. The approach not only fulfilled children’s dreams but also unleashed collective creativity across the neighbourhood.

1. Co-creation: Children as Designers

Using participatory-arts methods, we invited youngsters from Binlian New Village to “dream up” their ideal playground. In the Fantasy Playground workshop led by Canadian artist Yam, kids sketched the features and play experiences they craved most.

The runaway favourites were a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel. While site and safety limits ruled out a full-scale coaster, we worked with the children to deconstruct the roller-coaster sensation into achievable physical experiences and matched each to a purpose-built installation:

Seesaw-powered Ferris Wheel – teamwork & height
Bicycle-driven Spin Disk – speed & dizzying centrifugal force
Space Gyro – weightlessness & high-G thrills
Comic-strip Hamster Wheel – continuous motion & velocity

Each piece fuses basic physics with childhood imagination, turning kids from “play testers” into energy designers in their own right.

2. Energy Installations & Interactive Experiences

Pedal-Power Seesaw – Two players cooperate to generate electricity, converting their up-and-down motion into usable energy.
Rotary Kinetic Charging Station – A bicycle-driven generator that produces power through continuous pedalling, providing emergency phone charging.

Each device pairs fun with a visual display of output, so children can see how their play literally turns into energy.

3. Modular Construction: Meeting Urban-Village Challenges

Binlian New Village’s tight, uneven alleys demanded a super-sized “LEGO” approach. Every installation features:

Rapid disassembly & assembly
Flexible interlocking for varied terrain
Unitized transport for easy relocation

This modular system boosts the playground’s emergency readiness and makes the model easy to replicate in other communities.

4. Materials & Eco-Design Principles

Locally recycled materials – reclaimed wood, scrap metal, and other up-cycled components
Renewable-energy hardware – kinetic-to-electric converters embedded in every device
Screw-fastened, weld-free joints – easy to take apart and reuse, minimising waste
Full life-cycle flexibility – each installation can be repurposed, upgraded, or refitted

Beyond championing the right to play, the project promotes a culture of resource circulation and green energy throughout the neighbourhood.

5. Timeline & Resource Allocation — Re-translation

Fund-raising: A two-week sprint of rapid crowdfunding that raised ¥80,000.
Design phase: 10 days devoted to co-creation workshops, 3-D modelling, and feasibility checks.
Construction phase: 20 days covering material procurement, on-site assembly, testing, and refinement.
People power: The Happy Power core team, local volunteers, and 20-plus children and their parents.
Site support: Land provided through coordination with the Binlian New Village sub-district office and community committee.

The whole build unfolded as a rolling, hands-on workshop: children imagined, prototyped, and experimented, while residents supplied tools and labour. Together they erected not merely play equipment but a shared energy-co-creation hub that truly belongs to the community.

IV. Equipment Overview

1. Seesaw-Powered Ferris Wheel

Standing 4.2 metres tall, this Ferris wheel can carry four children (each under 40 kg / 88 lb) at once. Beneath it sits a specially engineered seesaw that supports up to two riders—children or adults. Every rise and fall of the seesaw gently turns the wheel above, so passengers experience the joy of climbing skyward and the delight of looking down, all through playful cooperation.

More than a fitness challenge, the installation is a social adventure: pairs work together to “power up” height and laughter. The kids have even penned their own safety slogans on the structure.

2. Comic-Strip Hamster Wheel

Think of it as a picture book that runs. The oversized hamster wheel invites children, adults—and even their pets—to walk or sprint inside. Its outer shell is wrapped in comic panels hand-drawn by the kids, capturing their dreams and wild imaginings. When the wheel rolls, the artwork spins out frame by frame, turning the whole structure into a living, moving storybook.

Those who prefer to stay outside can still watch the “animated comic” in motion and share the fun together.

3. 360° Space Gyro

This is a stage reserved for the bold. The Space Gyro consists of two concentric rings that can spin freely in every direction. One player at a time straps in to experience weightlessness, high-G forces, and a constantly shifting sense of orientation.

It’s both a test of personal limits and a cooperative game among friends: while the challenger stands inside, pals on the outside control the spin by turning a steering wheel—injecting surprise and laughter into every ride.

4. Bicycle-Powered Spin Disk

This installation blends team cycling with a dizzying spin. When riders pedal the built-in bikes together, they set the central platform whirling. The disk accommodates up to six players at once and is open to all age groups.

Younger kids can ride alongside a parent for support, sharing the fun together. The swirl of motion, the tug of centrifugal force, and the surge of speed make this the playground’s most dynamic thrill.

V. Community Impact & User Feedback

Usage Patterns

Completed during the 2024 summer break, the playground instantly became the neighbourhood’s social hub. From 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. there is always someone playing, creating an almost round-the-clock buzz. On the second day of opening, the children themselves introduced a “quiet siesta”—all play stops from 12:00 to 14:00—so the community can enjoy both liveliness and midday calm.

Children & Family Feedback

Happy Power has become the children’s secret base and the parents’ trusted safe corner. Many families report that kids now venture out more readily, collaborate with peers, and actively learn about basic physics and energy. One parent shared, “Every day my son comes home beaming: ‘I made the Ferris wheel turn today!’ He feels like a little engineer.”

The children also experience a new sense of ownership: they are not just users but designers, guides, and guardians of the space.

Catalyst for Spontaneous Public Events

The playground is more than equipment—it is a generator of public life. Flea markets, pop-up music sets, street-art workshops, and children’s theatre have begun to gather around it. Kids formed a guide team to explain each installation to visitors, while local youth host flash talks on “clean energy” and “community co-creation.”

Stronger Neighbourly Connections

Binlian New Village, once a densely populated yet loosely knit urban village, now has fresh points of contact. Families that rarely joined community events are meeting because their children made friends here. Elder residents drop by to watch the play and chat with young parents, forging new inter-generational bridges.

Pop-Up Exhibit & Future Plans

Because underground-utility works are scheduled, Happy Power is currently a “pop-up playground.” After a Category 17 typhoon left it unscathed—while providing emergency phone charging—residents saw its resilience and practical value and voiced strong support for a permanent stay. We are now working with local authorities on a long-term deployment plan.

VI. Challenges & Responses

1. Noise Control & Shared-Space Coordination

The installations proved an instant hit, but heavy use created noise—especially at midday—disturbing some residents. Rather than impose top-down rules, we trusted in children’s self-governance. After joint discussions, the kids themselves instituted a “quiet time” from 12:00 to 14:00, a community consensus that solved the issue and taught them the value of making and keeping rules.

2. Building Community Trust & Reconciling Views

Early on, some neighbours were wary of safety, footprint, and usage. We adopted a “follow-up + co-culture” strategy:

Regular home visits to hear concerns and build trust
Active participation in local traditions (e.g., New-Year deity-welcoming rituals) to bond emotionally

These steps helped transform Happy Power from an “outside installation” into community-owned space.

3. Extreme Weather & Environmental Resilience

Construction coincided with underground-pipeline works and a Category 17 typhoon. To cope:

All equipment is modular and detachable, allowing rapid reinforcement or removal before storms.
Post-typhoon, the playground—one of the few intact structures—became an ad-hoc charging hub, supplying light and phone power, proving its worth as resilient infrastructure.
During pipeline work, we adopted a pop-up deployment model to stay flexible.

4. Policy & Grid-Access Constraints

With outdated village infrastructure and limited power hookups, we upheld a “no external electricity” principle:

Every device runs on human kinetic energy (cycling, seesaw motion) converted to stored power.
After the typhoon, battery storage and low-consumption hardware covered basic lighting, interactive features, and emergency charging—demonstrating a viable off-grid alternative.

VII. Sustainability & Future Outlook

1. Next Steps: Dual Strategy of Permanence & Mobility

The Binlian playground modules are currently in storage and undergoing upgrades at the workshop. Based on frontline feedback, we are improving safety, structural integrity, and energy-conversion efficiency. Our original plan was a pop-up touring model across multiple urban villages in Hainan, giving more communities hands-on access to this mobile, co-built energy-play system. Extreme typhoons have paused that tour, but we intend to resume once conditions stabilise and, after upgrades, secure a permanent installation in collaboration with local stakeholders.

2. Activating Community Self-Management

Long-term success hinges not on equipment alone but on the community’s capacity and desire to engage. In Binlian we already see promising signs:

Children devise play rules and run their own workshops.
Residents volunteer for supervision and upkeep.
The playground’s emergency-power role after the typhoon deepened residents’ sense of ownership.

Our next move is to launch a “Children’s Operations Committee” and a “Neighbourhood Partner Scheme,” empowering locals to run, maintain, and further develop the site themselves.

3. Regional Expansion

Binlian is only the first stop. We are in talks with nearby primary schools, small plazas, and other urban-renewal sites to embed Happy Power installations in a wider range of city spaces—turning each location into a node of shared memory, cultural renewal, and energy awareness.

4. An Open, Replicable Toolkit

Throughout the project we have documented blueprints, modular assembly logic, co-creation workflows, and management lessons, aiming to deliver:

A replicable construction manual
A Happy Power Co-Creation Toolkit adaptable to diverse geographic and social contexts
A data repository drawn from field cases—soon to be opened to educators, NGOs, and urban-renewal practitioners.

Our goal is larger than “building one playground”; it is to enable anyone, anywhere, to spark community life, generate clean energy, and rebuild connections—through play.