Children - a catalyst for neighbourhood connection

Engaging young people is an ideal way to foster connections between residents

by Mateja Mihinjac

I moved to a new neighbourhood several months ago. I was pleasantly surprised how lively the neighbourhood became as soon as the weather warmed up. Children playing out in the streets and in grassed areas in-between residential blocks, riding bikes and scooters, people walking their dogs – me included. This became a great opportunity to regularly meet people of all ages occupying outdoor space. 

Another thing I noticed was how young and middle-aged individuals, in particular, were regularly meeting in the grassed areas outside their blocks. They were chatting, sometimes also having a picnic and enjoying an odd drink. I observed most of these individuals were parents of children who were playing with each other nearby. Often, complete families of parents and their children were playing soccer in a playful competition. 

 

Youth in the Helsingborg, Sweden SafeGrowth program - describing
their summer safety audits in their neighbourhood

This reminded me of the community sports initiative from New York city from several years ago when I attended one of the SafeGrowth training workshops in Brownsville and Van Dyke public housing in Brooklyn.

 

THE VAN DYKE HOUSES SPORTS INITIATIVE

During the SafeGrowth workshops we discovered a powerful community-led initiative: the Unite Brownsville Cornerstone League (UBCL), a basketball program bringing youth and police together. NYPD Neighborhood Coordination Officer Jason Anazagasty, led the league and also took part in the workshops.


Officer Anazagasty described how much he enjoyed working with children and how the program builds stronger relationships between youth and police. He also pointed out a deeper impact the program created.

UBCL teams included youth from both Brownsville and the neighbouring Van Dyke housing developments, with games held at the Van Dyke community space. That required Brownsville youth—and their parents—to visit Van Dyke regularly. These visits sparked interactions among parents who had avoided each other for years due to grudges, tensions, and old conflicts. 

The Brownsville public housing in New York City were once described  
in Oscar Newman's book Defensible Space 

The program created a neutral space where families could reconnect, rebuild social ties, and eventually launch other community gatherings. UBCL became more than just basketball—it opened a pathway for families and neighbours to engage again.

 

OTHER EXAMPLES

Other examples demonstrate similar outcomes:

• In How do youth sports facilitate the creation of parental social ties? the author reformulates the role of children from passive recipients to “active social agents” in the formation of social capital due to interactions between children that indirectly foster relationships amongst their parents. 
• In Using youth sport to enhance parents' sense of community the authors explore how involvement in youth sports boosts parents’ sense of belonging and community.
• In Community threads: Youth sports create generational connections explores how youth sports build intergenerational ties in addition to building social bonds between parents.

The verdict is unanimous – children serve as a catalyst for neighbourhood connections!

 

SafeGrowth consultant Tarah Hodgkinson wrote about safety audits
with kids in her blog from Saskatoon

FINAL THOUGHTS

We often fail to give children much credit – as adults, we frequently nag about them being loud and disturbing our peace. 

The above examples teach us of the important role that children and youth play in building social capital. In SafeGrowth, we encourage participation of youth in workshops because their perspective should be included in community voice. 

It is time we recognise the multi-faceted role children and youth play in our neighbourhoods.

Pumptracks and pro-social potentials

by Mateja Mihinjac

On this blog, we’ve written about the importance of giving youth a voice and engaging them in public life. When they can participate, or even drive, the development of services for their use, they feel especially empowered.

EXPLORING LOCAL POTENTIALS

I like to explore hidden potentials in cities and one recent discovery in my hometown emerged as I enjoyed an autumn walk. It was a "Pumptrack", a continuous loop track intended for cyclists and skateboarders. Even more exciting for me was recognizing that track was situated adjacent to public housing thus providing youth with opportunities for prosocial activities, in this case, a recreational service.

Pumptracks are continuous loop tracks for bikes and boarders

The American National Recreation and Park Association stress that parks and recreation represent essential public services.

Apart from economic value, health and environmental benefits, the Association recognized that access to such infrastructure reduces crime and juvenile delinquency. From criminology, we also know that providing recreational and healthy activities for youth builds resilience and provides a protective factor against delinquency.

Siting the track adjacent to public housing ensures usage

POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

When communities invest in their assets to assist with the development of youth and their potential, they communicate to young people that they care for them. Reciprocally, the youth develop an attachment to the community and contribute to its wellbeing. Thus, according to one report, “youth are valuable resources to invest in and not problems to be solved”.

Recreational infrastructures in cities are not extras! They offer an ideal platform for engaging and developing youth. Any future vision of the city must include them.

Integrating Pumptracks into urban park infrastructure

Every time they want to count you out...use your voice

Facilitating safety audits with Saskatoon kids - doing it their way

GUEST BLOG: Tarah Hodgkinson is senior researcher in the Integrated Risk Assessment Instrument Group in Vancouver, Canada. She is a member of the International CPTED Association and a certified SafeGrowth practitioner. She is completing her PhD in criminology at Simon Fraser University.

***

Like the lyrics above from the best selling track Sing, too much crime prevention targets at-risk youth, but it rarely consults them. In The End of Education, Neil Postman told a fable of New York City falling into desperation. The streets are in disrepair, people are afraid to go outside and the police are unable to control the ballooning crime problem.

Not knowing what to do, the Mayor’s aide prepares to flee the city, but first reads Thoreau’s Walden, especially the quote, “Students should not play life, or study it merely, while the community supports them at this expensive game, but earnestly live it from beginning to end. How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living?”

SAFETY AUDITS WITH KIDS

I recently participated in a safety audit with local youth in Saskatoon,  Canada. With the help of a local planner and SafeGrowth advocate, Elisabeth Miller and planner Haven Rees, we reworked some of the safety audit to make it more youth friendly. We taught safety audit principles through games and examples. Finally the youth conducted a safety audit in one of Saskatoon’s neighbourhoods.

The experience reminded me how rarely youth are brought to the table when discussing safety, despite their unique experience in the urban environment. This group was particularly interesting, because they were all newcomers to Canada. Many were from countries much more violent and crime-ridden than Canada.  Their experience is particularly unique, because they experience fear and safety differently.

Children from different countries see spaces differently - Safety Audits capture that

For example, while conducting the safety audit one youth exclaimed, “of course I feel safe here! It’s so much safer than Russia!”

The youth in the safety audit told a different story than adults often do about their neighbourhoods. In a Block City exercise they were given the opportunity to build a neighbourhood with schools, shops, homes, and churches. They placed parks and shops very close to their home.

During the safety audit they also noticed things in the neighbourhood that we had missed. We were consistently surprised by their awareness and eagerness to participate. They were excited that we were taking their contributions seriously and genuinely intended to use their feedback.

GIVING VOICE TO YOUTH

I’ve had the privilege of teaching youth throughout my career. I often see their frustration when they are counted out from decisions because they are too young, or not given opportunities because adults feel they haven’t learned enough yet. However, when given the opportunity they can create beautiful and inspiring things. I’ve been impressed by the efforts to include youth here in Saskatoon.

Similar results are reported in this blog by educator Fleur Knight during her work in New Zealand schools.

I hope others will recognize the importance of involving youth in policy and neighbourhood improvements and we will stop doing things to and for youth, but rather with them.

Seen and Heard: Kids in the City

A scene from Seen and Heard

Last spring I mentioned the film Radiant City, a documentary about the plight of kids in the suburbs.

I just watched another about kids in other parts of the city. The film is by Demos a UK-based think tank on social and political affairs. Their YouTube Seen and Heard says it all. Click HERE to view it.

I rarely see young people at conferences, public meetings, or workshops that I attend. When I ask why I'm met with silence. When I ask for their inclusion in a fun and engaging way, I'm usually met by the question: But this isn't for kids!

Really? Then why does so much of our planning, policing, and crime prevention work circle around them?

Demos claims over 70% of today’s adults played outside on the streets as kids. Only 21% of today’s kids do. True, they may be too obsessed with texting, cells, and other virtual places. Then again, a galaxy of creative talent builds interesting and fun adventures in that virtual space. By contrast, only a microscopic dot of creative talent goes into building equally interesting and fun places for kids in our public realm.

Young people in the public realm? Bleak stats

Says Demos: Public space is failing our younger generation. "Those responsible for making playful places find it difficult to work together and struggle to engage with children properly"

A month or so ago myself and a half dozen local residents watched a TED.com show at a nearby community high school with 20 teens and their teachers. We listened to experts talk on the environment, education, and other topics after which we took turns sharing thoughts and ideas. They had great ideas, great frustrations, and great energy.

In short, there was no lack of creative talent. All that makes me ask this: If our public space is failing our young people, shouldn't we be asking them how to fix it?