ABSTRACT
This chapter explores young people's experiences of political participation in practice, in places which have been designed to ostensibly foster liveability, inclusiveness and conviviality. It begins by highlighting the multiple social and spatial exclusions that prevented young people from exerting agency, influencing and participating in broader community political discourses. The chapter demonstrates not only how children's exclusion from public spaces resonates with many previous studies of intergenerational relations, but also how such exclusions offer a starting point for considering the politics of being young in purpose-built, sustainable urban places. It develops to consider the spaces, moments and stories of young people's political vitality, through the knowledge, bodies and the emotional relationships which young people have with land, people and ideals of community. The chapter identifies the social and spatial exclusions that young people encountered in their experiences of living in Sustainable Communities. It focuses on space – community spaces, which may have the potential to facilitate Political participation.
