ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is the culmination of a journey that began in 1995. It started when a group of researchers, activists, urban planners and architects from eight countries decided to overcome disciplinary barriers and join hands to launch a comparative research project on how young people from impoverished communities around the world assess their urban environment. The book provides recommendations for increasing the genuine participation of young people in community development projects, so that they may be heard as full-fledged agents of community change, rather than, as is more generally the case, muted passive recipients of social transformation dictated by others. It is an adventure in inter-agency cooperation. There is a great deal of discussion about the need for United Nation's (UN) agencies to work together within UN System, to create partnerships with bilateral agencies, private foundations, major research think tanks and non-government organisations.
