Children as Co-Creators of the Urban Space

Research Project, 2017 – 2019

The project is about how children and youth can have more substantial impact on urban development and focuses on three questions: (a) how children as part of their school work can become co-creators of urban space, (b) in what way ICT-tools can facilitate this process, and (c) how to establish a continuous dialogue between school children and planners in urban transformation processes.

The case study for the project is an urban transformation process in a stigmatized suburb of Gothenburg, Hammarkullen, which focuses both physical aspects and social problems. Ensuing the UNCRC, the co-creators in this project are children and youths in a local school.The study is based on ethnographic and participatory action research approaches, and will be carried out in co-operation with stakeholders in the municipality, with special assignments to work with citizen dialogue.

The theoretical framework includes theories of empowerment, deliberative democracy, and participatory action research. The research is carried out in two parallel and intertwined phases. In the ethnographic phase children and teachers are involved as both informants and co-researchers. The phase of participatory action research consists of workshops in the school, led by pedagogical experts, and revolves around testing ICT-tools for co-creation of the urban space. This phase includes relating to municipal planners responsible for ongoing transformation process with densification and refurbishment in the case study area.