Aspects of urban planning processes which affect children’s participation in city planning

Abstract

Urban planning processes for children participation is a growing research topic for academia as well as practitioners due to the recognition of the valuable contribution of children into the city planning to create upbringing environments. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate how some aspects of urban planning processes affect the participation of children in projects of outdoor spaces in Trondheim, Norway. To conduct the research, this study aims to answer the following research question: How some aspects of urban planning processes facilitate or inhibit children’s participation in projects of outdoor spaces in the city centre of Trondheim, Norway? And the following sub-questions: 1. Which are the planning processes open for children participation? 2. How are the planning processes for children’s participation enacted? 3. Whom are the stakeholders involved in the process of engagement and dialogue with children? A case study, with semi-structured interviews, was conducted with different stakeholders in Trondheim, Norway. This thesis presents how the municipal city planning office along with some stakeholders and institutions implement urban planning processes for children participation. This research also identifies various aspects which facilitate and some elements which affect the outcome of the participation experienced by the stakeholders. Keywords: Children participation, institutionalized participation, semi institutionalized participation, non-institutionalized participation