Towards a PLAY model of youth participation in sustainable urban decision making : investigating young people’s experiences, expectations and empowerment in green space and public transport planning in Dhaka city.

Abstract

This thesis examines youth engagement in sustainable planning for transport and green space in Dhaka city Bangladesh. Despite increasingly large numbers of young people living in urbanising areas in the Global South (Mayo, 2001; UN-Habitat, 2013), there is comparatively little opportunity for youth voices, concerns and priorities to be heard in urban planning. Given the rapid growth of cities (Nematinasab, 2017; Wang et al., 2015) and the increasing proportion of young people who make up over all urban populations in cities especially in the Global South, I argue it is time to engage young people in planning and support them to face the challenges of urban development in the Global South.

The study focuses on Dhaka city, one of the world’s fastest growing and most congested cities because approximately 52% of the population of Dhaka are under the age of 25 years (RAJUK, 2018, p. 37) but their priorities have often been over looked in previous urban planning exercises (Ahmed, 2005; Ahmed & Sohail, 2005).

The study followed a sequential mixed method where data collection and analysis were conducted in two stages. The first stage was a qualitative study of the participation of young people aged 12 to 24 years old in green space and transport in Dhaka city in two contrasting areas (a high-income, planned area and a low-income informal community-established unplanned area). Focus groups and interviews were used to understand their experiences, expectations and any opportunities for empowerment in decision making in particular. In the second phase of investigation of this study, I conducted a quantitative survey in three areas, a low-income, middle-income and high-income area to compare the focus group responses with a wider sample.

Many studies have focused on public participation and youth wellbeing but fewer studies have highlighted the importance of the relationships between participation, youth wellbeing, and access to green space and public transport particularly in the Global South. During the course of the study there was a large youth-led protest about safety of transport and the way this protest took the city by surprise adds weight to my argument that many concerns young people have about their city are currently unheard.

I develop a PLAY model that recognises Participation, Leadership and Activism of Youth in urban planning and suggest the use of local community discussion as a way of helping build the capacity of young people to be heard in decision making. The study also suggests that focus groups with peers maybe a more effective method than large surveys in eliciting youth participation and feedback particularly in low-income communities and when working with young women who may lack confidence to record their views in more traditional surveys.

I argue youth participation, leadership and activism can support young people’s experiences, expectations and empowerment in urban planning.