The second of the two Sheffield Specials events set out to address the inclusion and participation of young people in our cities. Speakers Sarah Wigglesworth of Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, Dr Sonia Sharp of Sheffield City Council, Laura Broderick of CABE and Ken Dunn of The City School, Sheffield discussed various cultural perspectives and expectations of young people and their uses of urban space, presenting projects which explored the potentials of engaging young people in the built environment.
As addressees of the events title any audience buoyancy in youth status was to be weighted - young people were designated as those under the age of eighteen. In not being entitled to vote or drink alcohol, under 18’s have less influence upon decisions made for the city which impact upon their futures, and can not convene with other citizens in what event chair Kieran Long (The Architects Journal) describes as the ‘quintessential social space of British cities’. Teenagers and young children do however have increasingly firm footings in the city’s retail spaces; welcomed as fully fledged global consumers and the primary target for many advertising campaigns adorning the city’s billboards and bus stops yet their use of retail centres and surrounding open spaces are largely restricted. Young people may shop but are rarely provided with spaces to stop, sit or socialise due to regular abuse of these amenities. Socialising becomes anti-social, relaxation and communality becomes loitering, interaction with the physical environment becomes potential damage, and we are presented with a dichotomy. Whilst the event acknowledged the problems of anti-social behaviour as real and tangible, the speakers gladly raised significant challenges to common perceptions and generalisations, including the potential for stereotyping to escalate to what Long suggests as an ‘hysteria of the elderly’.
Inserted into existing debates, the evening’s discussion furthered the notion that as the title reflects, not only is there a lack of participation on the part of young people, but our attitudes towards young people and the restrictions we implement on their behaviour, access and activity also contribute to this exclusion. Who do our cities include? Who are they designed for? The preceding event in the 2008 Sheffield Specials programme rose for discussion the influence of retail within the regeneration and future survival of our cities, and lead many audience members to question the impact of prominent retail developments on our behaviours and the variety of choices made available to us. Though of course fundamental to the city’s economic resilience and our lifestyles as urban dwellers, retail spaces arguably draw young people further towards aspiration and consumerism, restricting and distracting them from their immediate physical and social environment. Combined with young people’s restricted use of city’s public spaces, we are lead to question not only how far our cities encourage participation, creativity and exploration in young people, but how far young people are included in our conception of the ‘public’.
As Laura Broderick describes, young people have ‘no particular place to go.’ Taking on board the cause/effect nature of their disengagement, her work with CABE approaches facilitated learning in the built environment as a means of increasing the esteem of young people. Through engagement in practical projects that utilise and explore the physical environment and the design and development of the city, young people may feel their ‘place’ in the city and participate in its, and therefore their own future. Ken Dunn’s environmental projects with secondary school pupils inspire their consideration of sustainability and community cohesion, encouraging an environmental conscience, shaping the future through changes to current attitudes. Dunn’s belief that ‘liberation breeds energy’ poses practical engagement in environmental issues as a counter to the ‘malaise of the modern youth’, suggested by Sonia Sharp as an adult concept. Sharp emphasised mastery, independence, belonging and generosity as key elements in engaging young people, whose activities can be accommodated in successful urban projects.
Much of the evening’s discussion centred on creating spaces designated for young people, referencing skate parks, play areas, social spaces and sports grounds, yet we should also resist the expectation for young people to ‘perform’ their youth, demonstrating participation through activity. We understand the significance of the imagination in a young person’s engagement in their surroundings, which translates to urban environments and later the concepts by which they are shaped. Sarah Wigglesworth discussed the influence of colour and materials on our responses to environments of both work and play, and proposed the role of the architect as to create a world that captures this imagination. Therefore, whilst spaces must be created to house the activities of young people, cities must also be open to creative exploration by the young, allowing for unplanned and fluid urban encounters which link the social and imaginary with physical boundaries and may on the surface appear disruptive, vacant or mundane – such as wandering, sitting, gazing, congregating and playing.
To include young people we must offer them agency within the cities we create, maintaining security and behavioural standards and addressing perspectives and behaviours of both old and young that generate negative relations. The discussions of the evening made a welcome insertion into the projection of the regenerated city, encouraging openness in design, mess, play and the unpredictable - the event itself a model for transparency, exchange and engagement in urban development. Inferred through the strategies and practices presented was the need to also include young people in these discussions.
This text was produced on request by the Sheffield Civic Trust, May 2009. http://www.sheffieldcivictrust.org.uk/
http://www.sheffieldspecials.org.uk/
Copyright C A Morgan 2009
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