ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how young people’s everyday use of urban public and semi-public spaces is shaped by social norms, power relations, and spatial structures. Drawing on data collected in Malmö, Eskilstuna, and Helsinki, it broadens the understanding of the complexities of young people’s mundane urban lives. The chapter develops an analytical framework combining the concepts of tight and loose spaces with intersectionality. The framework illuminates how young people appropriate, negotiate, and resist spatial norms, and how peace is produced or disrupted through everyday socio-spatial practices. The findings show that peaceful coexistence in cities is not characterized by the absence of conflict, but by young people’s active strategies for navigating safety and belonging. The chapter argues that recognizing youth as agents of urban coexistence – rather than as security threats – is essential for understanding the layered dynamics of contemporary urban life.
