A Voice for Children and Young People in the City

Abstract

A major challenge for researchers and urban planning practitioners is how to obtain meaningful and influential contributions on urban and environmental planning activities from children and young people within the constraints of adult policy and practice. The key elements of this challenge concern traditional methods of communication between 'experts' and children and young people in rationalist planning settings, versus emerging research in relation to children's and young people's views and agency around civic participation. This article will address the work of a number of researchers and practitioners who have grappled with the inherent tenions of making planning practice and urban design more inclusionary, while facilitating and respecting children and young people's civic participation. This article also advocates the advantages and strengths of their participation in planning and urban design processes.With a focus on two exploratory programs developed by the authors in the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria, this article will demonstrate how the sharing of knowledge and skills between planning and design professionals and children and young people can lead to more meaningful and influential contributions from them. The programs examined were informed by leading practice both in Australia and internationally, and have assisted to develop children and young people's sense of spatial competence, and their confidence and efficacy in their local environment, contributing ultimately to their wellbeing. They have also supported the establishment of youth leadership groups with the confidence and skills to contribute to ongoing local government urban and environmental planning activities.Children's and young people's views and urban experiences lack legitimacy and voice in the majority of current urban planning processes. Children and young people 1 are primarily restricted to commenting about specific design features of parks and playgrounds, as it is assumed that they have little interest and ability to provide relevant feedback more broadly about their urban environments. Research with children and young people traditionally has been undertaken by adults who regarded children and young people as emerging or developing adults with little consideration of their competence and agency. Hart (1992) and Hinton (2008) have argued that many of the reasons children and young people are excluded from planning processes are based on socio-cultural assumptions. These assumptions arise from a complex image of children and young people, and their abilities. These images automatically associate younger age with spontaneity, immaturity, and lack of experience, rather than recognise the diversity of children's and young people's personalities, skills, knowledge and experience (Driskell, 2002;Hart, 1992;Hinton, 2008). As Driskell (2002) notes, claims against children's and young people's ability to participate in planning activities also applies to adults. Studies by a number of Australian and international resea...

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