ABSTRACT
In this book we have argued throughout for a more relational understanding of the ways in which childhood, youth and the city are co-constructed. The preceding chapters have focused on the relationship between representations of space and age, structural issues that affect young people’s urban lives in different parts of the world, and the spatial practices through which children and youth appropriate urban space. While the latter often occur in opposition to and in spite of urban policies and structures that marginalise young people, we examine in this chapter how the design of cities can be transformed through greater inclusion of children and youth in planning and policy processes. We examine a number of examples of child participation in urban planning and ask what such participation entails, how more active citizenship can be achieved and what problems need to be addressed in order to make participation thoroughly inclusive and effective. We examine the arguments for children’s participation, describe a number of methods for achieving it, critically discuss the shortcomings of certain approaches and give a range of examples of participation in urban planning that connect with policy changes at different scales.
