Abstract
In recent decades, there has been a shift toward children’s rights in research, public policy, and planning about children in cities, as expressed by the 1989 United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child and in subsequent child-centric research, policy, and programming such as the UNICEF “Child Friendly Cities” movement.
Mainstream urban planning practice, however, still largely ignores or excludes children from participating in decisions about (and even use of) the public realm in our cities. Even where child-friendly planning policy and practice do exist, it is often done without consulting children directly, and there remain pressing questions about the sustainability and efficacy of these isolated examples (see, e.g., Marr and Malone (2007) What about me? Children as co-researchers. University of Wollongong, Wollongong. Retrieved from http://www.aare.edu.au/07pap/mar07118.pdf. 20 June 2011).
This chapter addresses the question of children’s active citizenship in the city and how urban planning practitioners can creatively and effectively involve children in decisions about the city. Using an Australian case study, the Citizen Kid Planning Group (CKPG), the chapter explores people’s engagement with – and experience of – co-planning between children, urban planners, and other practitioners to improve the child-friendliness of two neighborhood plazas. The case study offers up the “DELVE” framework as a way for urban planners and others to reorient their practice to more effectively work with child citizens, support the development of their civic “voice,” and see that their contributions influence outcomes.
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Cook, A. (2017). Children’s Citizenship. In: Freeman, C., Tranter, P., Skelton, T. (eds) Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-035-3_19
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