To what extent is Youth Participation in planning institutionalized at the local level in California?

Date
2015
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University of Delaware
Abstract
Youth Participation in planning is part of a larger normative discourse in participatory urban planning which argues youth are entitled members of the urban stakeholder community and thus its planning. This paper uses data from an online survey to investigate the extent to which youth engagement in planning is institutionalized in California. While we conclude youth participation in urban planning at the municipal level remains low across both structural and operational dimensions of institutionalization, there were widely perceived benefits, revealing a disconnect. Possible explanations for this disconnect are discussed, as are the potential limitations of existing participatory models. Ultimately, this thesis attempts to resolve the pre-diagnosed character of youth participation and proposes instead that youth participation is an exercise whose meaning is found in context where rungs on the ladder of participation serve not simply as ends to themselves but also as stepping-stones, facilitating the ever-increasing potential for youth engagement at the municipal level.
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