Your place or mine?: young people making places in Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

Space is controlled in ways that restrict the ability of young people to engage in the activities they want to and be where they want to. Young people respond to this situation by making places where they can take control of their lives, and exercise power. This was a finding of research carried out with 92 young people with an average age of sixteen from three different schools and a youth centre in Wellington, New Zealand. Research participants wrote essays about favourite places outside their home and participated in focus groups. This material is used to investigate what places are important to young people, what they do there and how they make places. Three case studies are conducted focusing on a pedestrian mall, a youth café, and skateboarders. Analysis sought to understand why young people made the places they did in the ways they did. This analysis was aided by the NUD*IST4 software package. Young people's favourite places outside the home focused on malls and shopping areas, bush, and sporting places. The key element common to most favourite places was being with friends and reducing adult control. Power relations among young people and between young people and adults are complex.