New Street Geographies: The Impact of Urban Governance on the Mobilities of Cape Town’s Street Youth

Abstract

Street youth have been part of South Africa's cities since the 1980s, maintaining a visible and mobile presence. Contemporary adaptations to urban governance strategies in Cape Town have resulted in management practices that are creating challenges for street youth's lives. This paper explores these challenges which have emerged through strategies to clean up the city and are aimed at reducing youth's visible presence on the streets. Through an examination of street youth's lives, this paper conceptualises four ways in which their mobilities have changed, dramatically affecting their everyday practices. The paper develops theoretical understandings of street youth's lives by identifying 'new' street geographies. This moves away from current conceptualisations of street children/youth as having a visible presence on the streets and rather expresses street life as hidden and marginalised, pushed into less wealthy parts of the urban landscape. This has significant implications for addressing street children/youth's needs in policy contexts.

Itinerant livelihoods: Street vending‐scapes and the politics of mobility in upland socialistVietnam

“…1 Interviews were carried out in Hmong, Yao or Vietnamese with the aid of interpreters/research assistants of the same ethnicity, or were completed independently. 2 The most developed strand of work explicitly focusing on 'mobilities' with a Global South focus is work on mobilities of youth, and particularly street youth (Gough, 2008;Porter et al, 2010;Butcher, 2011;van Blerk, 2013). Work has also been completed on the urban poor, with particular emphasis on gender differences in access to mobility options (Mandel, 2006;Srinivasan, 2008;Tanzarn, 2008;Ureta, 2008;Salon & Gulyani, 2010;Jaffe et al, 2012).…”

“…The most developed strand of work explicitly focusing on ‘mobilities’ with a Global South focus is work on mobilities of youth, and particularly street youth (Gough, ; Porter et al ., ; Butcher, ; van Blerk, ). Work has also been completed on the urban poor, with particular emphasis on gender differences in access to mobility options (Mandel, ; Srinivasan, ; Tanzarn, ; Ureta, ; Salon & Gulyani, ; Jaffe et al ., ).…”

Dutch-Moroccan Girls Navigating Public Space: Wandering as an Everyday Spatial Practice

“…Heeding the recent call to pay more attention to the “micro mobilities” and “micro geographies” of youth in their local surroundings (Holt & Costello, 2011; Horton, Christensen, Kraftl, & Hadfield-Hill, 2014; Van Blerk, 2013), we demonstrate how this wandering works in three ways. First, wandering is a legitimate way for girls to be outside; second, it enables girls to escape social control both inside and outside the house; and third, it makes it possible for girls to interact with boys in public space even if in a very fleeting way.…”

Vulnerable Youth’s Perspectives and Priorities for Informal Settlements: Photovoice Evidence from Lusaka, Zambia

“…As a result, youth are not systematically included in global planning processes despite their demographic and socioeconomic importance (Talen and Coffindaffer 1999; Frank 2006; Knowles-Yánez 2005). Moreover, in many developing world cities, the response to the youth bulge has been fear, often seeking to control or diffuse youth’s needs rather than engage youth with relevant institutions (Mabala 2011; van Blerk 2013). Thus, mismatches grow between urban development plans and young peoples’ desires for their neighborhoods, resulting in youth dissatisfaction (Passon, Levi, and del Rio 2008; Laughlin and Johnson 2011; Kruger and Chawla 2002).…”