Page 7 - Shelter, October 2024

THEME PAPER

Urban Agenda 3 (adopted Challenges Faced in Youth barriers include restricted
at Habitat III in Quito, Participation access to formal power
2016) further outlines the structures and decision-
transformative principle of Despite the recognized making processes along
Leave No One Behind (LNOB) significance of including with an underrepresentation
and lays out guidelines for young people and adolescents of the youth in leadership
the planning, construction, in planning, they face many and political institutions.
development, management, obstacles in being actively Bureaucratic hurdles such
and improvement of cities involved in urban governance as opposition to change
along five main pillars - processes. A major barrier in traditional systems and
is attitudinal due to the
national urban policies, urban traditional views carried by structures as well as not
legislation and regulations, adult decision-makers which validating the practical
urban planning and create an environment that concerns of the young
design, local economy and is not conducive to engaging people further enhance
municipal finance, and local young people. Augsberger, their difficulties and
implementation. Collins, and Gecker (2017) often lead to systematic
5
Youth engagement in each bring forth three views of prejudice. In economic
barriers, many young people
of these aspects has a lot of note - “developmental views particularly from low-
potential to bring in innovative (youth lack the knowledge, income communities face
viewpoints that challenge the skills, attitudes, behaviours, unemployment, poverty, and
established status quo. Young and social connections of social exclusion which hinder
people tend to perceive adults), perceptions of youths’ their ability to mobilise
cities differently than older vulnerability (youth are both for participation in civic
generations, particularly in in need of adult protection activities .
6
terms of pursuing educational and can be co-opted by adults
interests and professional and thus cannot participate Young women and girls face
opportunities as well as independently), and legal additional gender-specific
accessing public spaces, which views (because of their age barriers and biases that limit
is important to consider while they are not full citizens their active participation in
planning for cities. Youth and at best can be trained public-centric activities and
engagement has to be more in civic engagement but do community action, such as
than a symbolic gesture as not yet have full authority to societal perceptions of being
it is essential for developing contribute to decisions)”. restricted to voice their
policies that reflect the lived Young people also frequently opinions and familial safety
reality of all age groups, encounter several economic concerns of not being allowed
ensuring that urban spaces and political barriers to being to go to unfamiliar spaces or
and policies are inclusive and part of civic engagement participate in any activities
forward-thinking . activities. The political beyond daylight hours.
4

3 UN-Habitat. 2020. The New Urban Agenda Illustrated Handbook. Accessed at: https://unhabitat.org/the-new-urban-agenda-illustrated#:~:text=The%20
New%20Urban%20Agenda%2C%20adopted
4 Blanchet-Cohen, Natasha, and Liesette Brunson. 2014. Creating Settings for Youth Empowerment and Leadership: An Ecological Perspective. Child
& Youth Services, 35, no. 3: 216–36. Accessed at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935x.2014.938735
5 Augsberger, Astraea, Collins, Mary Elizabeth and Gecker, Whitney. 2017. National Civic Review, Vol. 106, No. 1,, pp. 9-16. Accessed at: https://www.
jstor.org/stable/10.1002/naticivirevi.106.1.0009
6 UNDESA. 2018. World Youth Report: Youth and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Accessed at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/
youth/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2018/12/WorldYouthReport-2030Agenda.pdf

October, 2024, Volume 25. No.1 - SHELTER 5