Historically, children have been restricted in their ability to express their opinions when it comes to the design of their cities. Adults often assume that youth might not have the maturity or background to provide helpful input, yet when given the opportunity, kids can have important and insightful perspectives. Although it may be common to see children as not-yet-developed in their ideas, recent sociological research has shown that children can be “valid informants of their own worlds.” In this article, the authors discuss the value of involving children and young adults in planning and urban design. The authors highlight case studies from around the world that have influenced their own work. They also introduce two exploratory programs they started in Australia. The authors discuss how these case studies have succeeded in garnering increased input from children in terms of city planning and a simultaneous rise in beneficial environmental education outcomes.
The first case study the authors highlight is a London organization, which works with kids to increase children's engagement related to aspects of urban planning. The program, My City Too!, supports approximately 35 youth ages 12–16 called “the youth ambassadors.” These young people work with volunteer urban design professionals in order to see their ideas transformed into practical reality. In this program, the youth are not only supported in their contributions but are also taught skills to make best use of their ideas.
Another program the authors highlight is called the Everyday Urbanity Project, which is based in Helsinki, Finland; Tokyo, Japan; and Bendigo, Australia. The developers of this program have created an easy-to-use geographical information system, which they've dubbed soft-GIS. The program uses aerial images, drawing features, and pop-up survey questions that ask youth to share their thoughts and opinions online about the city in which they live. The program aims to gain different perspectives in order to make that information available to professional urban planners. This project collects both quantitative and qualitative data. Another project that has influenced the authors is a program in Dapto, New South Wales, Australia, called the Dapto Dreaming Project. This program worked with children in a mixed-media, combination effort to elicit input in a final plan. The youth showed that it was best to “protect nature, provide direct travel pathways but also pathways that meander through natural areas, and promote community building, physical activity and learning.”
The authors then profile two exploratory programs they started in Australia. The first, Coffs Harbour's Young Ambassadors for Design Project, met with high school students biweekly through the 2010–2013 school years. Professionals working in the urban planning sector shared with the students career information from first-hand experience. This program was intended to inspire students to meet their academic goals as well as to help city planners gain insight into the wants and needs of young citizens. The program members then had the opportunity to advocate their ideas at local “community forums.”
The second program the authors piloted was called The Place of Our Children in Community Building. The project was commissioned by the City of Greater Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, and was aimed at eliciting children's and young people's views about a current plan for development and the state of the city at the time. Three schools participated: a suburban primary school, a suburban secondary school, and an inner-city secondary school. A series of activities were conducted in all three schools over a period of nine hours, spread over three nonconsecutive days. The leaders, who were both university researchers and city staff, used workshops, photography sessions, “neighborhood walks,” questionnaires, drawings, and discussions to gather suggestions for planning policy in the program. These activities were all designed to help youth develop an understanding of their city, the local environment, and urban planning and design. This project resulted in a large dataset of both quantitative and qualitative data that were used by the city for urban planning purposes. For example, the youth expressed which streets they felt were safest and easiest to cross and which felt unsafe because of heavy or fast-moving traffic.
In their discussion, the authors note two roadblocks for those looking to elevate the voices of children in designing city spaces. These roadblocks are the ability (or inability) of the youth to share their ideas and the ways in which the professionals implement the opinions of the youth. However, the projects highlighted in the article show that child engagement in urban planning is possible. Not only that, but involvement in urban planning allows young people to learn about their local environments and cities, develop critical skills for becoming involved in the democratic process, and learn to productively address complex urban planning and environmental issues.
The Bottom Line
Children and young adults can provide legitimate, valuable, and insightful input into the design and planning of the cities where they live. In the process, they gain valuable skills in communication, urban design, and environmental planning; at the same time, the cities benefit from their innovative perspectives. The highlighted programs suggest that children want to engage with the environment and that interacting with the place in which they live can lead to a greater local connection.