Speaker
Description
The involvement of young people in urban development is mandated by the UN Convention and has become a normative goal in regional and urban planning. This goal resonates in particular with the debates on urban commons, which emphasize the importance of engaging young people in shaping shared urban spaces, extending the concept of commons beyond lived experiences to the domain of shared urban futures. The way futures are imagined, articulated, and enacted reflects governance structures, public spaces, and the lived realities of urban dwellers. Futures are bound to places and frame how humans collectively or individually settle their space. In regions undergoing structural transition, youth participation is recognized by stakeholders as vital for crafting regional futures because it is young people who will inherit the region that is designed today. Yet, in practice, youth participation often falls short of its promise due to systemic and cultural barriers.
This paper examines youth participation in Lusatia, Germany, focusing on structural transition policies and their mechanisms on the side of institutional frameworks, as well as the perceptions, concerns, and aspirations of young people as they navigate the structural transition in their region. Drawing on qualitative data from regulatory frameworks, interviews, and focus groups, it situates youth participation at the intersection of urban realities and imaginaries, revealing a disconnect between policy frameworks and young people’s lived experiences. Policies often emphasize abstract notions of economic and social restructuring, framed through quantitative metrics, while young people primarily engage with ramifications of structural transitions through direct interactions with their immediate environment. It is through everyday life experiences of the multiplicity of patterns and rhythms of urban space that they shape their understanding of structural transitions and their sense of agency within them.
Key findings highlight that young people frequently identify the lack of cultural capital as an obstacle to meaningful participation. They lack the means to effectively translate their experiences into the structured discourses of participatory processes. Many struggle to engage with institutionalized frameworks that focus on technical conceptualizations of urban space and temporality. Two concerning tendencies may be observed. First, a growing acceptance among youth that their voices will not be heard. Despite strong interest in participatory governance, young people express skepticism rooted in past experiences of limited follow-through and a perceived disregard for their input. This skepticism, coupled with a perceived disinterest in institutional participatory processes, perpetuates cycles of disengagement. Second, the opposition to welfare benefits, which many young people perceive as overly generous and discouraging hard work. Referring to their own economic conditions, which they perceive as precarious, they argue welfare benefits unfairly reward those who do not contribute. This criticism reflects growing resentment toward the welfare system and risks fueling a broader decline in social protections. Combined with falling trust in planning processes, these attitudes create fertile ground for radical-right mobilization, particularly in the context of rising extremism in the region.
While positive regional changes, such as environmental improvements and economic diversification, are acknowledged, these are often overshadowed by uncertainties about individual prospects and future stability, which are frequently tied to inherited traditional views of employment and family life. The findings underscore the importance of meaningful participation in empowering youth to engage in structural change, ensuring that by playing an active role in shaping shared futures, they collectively redefine the commons as spaces of mutual interest rather than competing individual priorities.
| Keywords | youth; participation; transition; futures |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
