While friends tell me they hadn't noticed playgrounds until they had their own children this isn't entirely true in my case.

I grew up on some of the poorest and most dangerous council estates and what I noticed, even as a kid, was how God awful rough our playgrounds were. The one space dedicated to children with no money was often strewn with litter, burnt out bins and broken glass. Those playgrounds were all too visible symbols of how little society cared for us.

It’s true though, that now I’m a parent, I've developed a whole new appreciation for playgrounds. I like to think of them as the sibling of libraries – truly egalitarian spaces, where everyone in the community can go for free, stay as long as they want and are expected to give nothing in return. When we consider how much social isolation is part of our new modern lives and as we struggle with trying to get children away from screens, as housing in many cities becomes ever more cramped, they become vitally important.

We have a running joke in our family, which is that we might not be able to tell you where the best restaurants are in any given city, but we could pinpoint every excellent park in Tokyo, Paris or, in this case, Helsinki.

In fact, I’ve traveled specially from Sweden by ferry to a specific Helsinki playground because it’s the first computer themed one in the world. It combines STEM education with creative, imagination-based play. There is a huge ‘computer-processor’ climbing frame, a racing track painted to resemble code and a stage shaped like a phone screen. The........

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