Over the past 70 years skateboarding has gone from fringe to mainstream. Iain Borden, author of Skateboarding and the City, selects 11 skateparks that highlight the key aspects of the movement's culture. More
An old coastal fortification in Cape Town has been transformed into an urban park, skatepark and garden by South African studio DHK. More
A translucent polycarbonate skin wraps Streetmekka Viborg Build, a former windmill factory that Danish studio EFFEKT has transformed into a hub for street sports and youth culture. More
This multi-tonal red concrete skatepark by architects B-ILD and Constructo doubles as a public square in the Belgian city of Blankenberge. More
Finnish Modernist architect Alvar Aalto accidentally invented the skateboard bowl with a 1930s swimming pool design, according to a US skateboarding magazine and a Finnish newspaper. More
British architect Guy Hollaway has unveiled plans for the "world's first" purpose-built multi-storey skatepark, which he says will help prevent young people from moving away from a sleepy British seaside town (+ slideshow). More
An irregular quatrefoil-shaped bowl made of maroon concrete is submerged into one side of this skatepark in northern France designed by architecture studios Planda and Constructo (+ slideshow). More
News: The Rom Skatepark in east London has become the first European facility of its kind to be awarded protected status (+ slideshow). More
Danish studios CEBRA and Glifberg+Lykke have created an igloo-shaped street sports centre and a skate park on the harbour front of Haderslev, Denmark (+ slideshow). More
Selfridges has collaborated with mobile phone company HTC to create a temporary 1,700 square metre skatepark replete with ramps, rails, benches and banks, in the middle of London's West End. More
A few tons of concrete was all professional skateboarder Philipp Schuster needed to turn this derelict hunting lodge in Salzburg, Austria, into an indoor skate park. More
Slideshow: French studio Bang Architectes has converted a former peanut factory in Calais into a skateboarding park with a bright orange mesh facade (photos by Julien Lanoo). More
Former European skateboarding champion and architect Matthias Bauer of MBA/S Associates has designed a skatepark and youth club in Stuttgart, Germany. More