Youth Urban Worlds

Both theoretically informed and empirically rich, Youth Urban Worlds explores how urban cultures affect political action amongst youth. Argues that urban cultures challenge the very meaning and contours of the political process Includes ethnographies, delving into the perspectives and knowledges of racialized youth, urban farmers, and “voluntary risk takers,” like dumpster divers, building climbers, and student protestors Theorizes that aesthetics are an increasingly crucial form of political action in the contemporary urban setting and explains the impact of aesthetics on the political Examines the centrality of fun, warmth, aesthetics, and embodiment to these youth’s experience of being in the world Explains how youth are able to practically and concretely impact the political process through the performance of risky and disruptive behavior

Both theoretically informed and empirically rich, Youth Urban Worlds explores how urban cultures affect political action amongst youth. Argues that urban cultures challenge the very meaning and contours of the political process Includes ethnographies, delving into the perspectives and knowledges of racialized youth, urban farmers, and “voluntary risk takers,” like dumpster divers, building climbers, and student protestors Theorizes that aesthetics are an increasingly crucial form of political action in the contemporary urban setting and explains the impact of aesthetics on the political Examines the centrality of fun, warmth, aesthetics, and embodiment to these youth’s experience of being in the world Explains how youth are able to practically and concretely impact the political process through the performance of risky and disruptive behavior

Winner of the Regional Studies Association's Best Book Award 2018. In the last few decades, many global cities and towns have experienced unprecedented economic, social, and spatial structural change. Today, we find ourselves at the juncture between entering a post-urban and a post-political world, both presenting new challenges to our metropolitan regions, municipalities, and cities. Many megacities, declining regions and towns are experiencing an increase in the number of complex problems regarding internal relationships, governance, and external connections. In particular, a growing disparity exists between citizens that are socially excluded within declining physical and economic realms and those situated in thriving geographic areas. This book conveys how forces of structural change shape the urban landscape. In The Post-Urban World is divided into three main sections: Spatial Transformations and the New Geography of Cities and Regions; Urbanization, Knowledge Economies, and Social Structuration; and New Cultures in a Post-Political and Post-Resilient World. One important subject covered in this book, in addition to the spatial and economic forces that shape our regions, cities, and neighbourhoods, is the social, cultural, ecological, and psychological aspects which are also critically involved. Additionally, the urban transformation occurring throughout cities is thoroughly discussed. Written by today’s leading experts in urban studies, this book discusses subjects from different theoretical standpoints, as well as various methodological approaches and perspectives; this is alongside the challenges and new solutions for cities and regions in an interconnected world of global economies. This book is aimed at both academic researchers interested in regional development, economic geography and urban studies, as well as practitioners and policy makers in urban development.

Fengshu Liu situates the lives of Chinese youth and the growth of the Internet against the backdrop of rapid and profound social transformation in China. In 2008, the total of Internet users in China had reached 253 million (in comparison with 22.5 million in 2001). Yet, despite rapid growth, the Internet in China is so far a predominantly urban-youth phenomenon, with young people under thirty (especially those under twenty-four), mostly members of the only-child generation, as the main group of the netizens’ population. As both youth and the Internet hold the potential to inflict, or at least contribute to, far-reaching economic, social, cultural, and political changes, this book fulfills a pressing need for a systematical investigation of how youth and the Internet are interacting with each other in a Chinese context. In so doing, Liu sheds light on what it means to be a Chinese today, how ‘Chineseness’ may be (re)constructed in the Internet Age, and what the implications of the emerging form of identity are for contemporary and future Chinese societies as well as the world.

What type of cities do we want our children to grow up in? Car-dominated, noisy, polluted and devoid of nature? Or walkable, welcoming, and green? As the climate crisis and urbanisation escalate, cities urgently need to become more inclusive and sustainable. This book reveals how seeing cities through the eyes of children strengthens the case for planning and transportation policies that work for people of all ages, and for the planet. It shows how urban designers and city planners can incorporate child friendly insights and ideas into their masterplans, public spaces and streetscapes. Healthier children mean happier families, stronger communities, greener neighbourhoods, and an economy focused on the long-term. Make cities better for everyone.

The innovative, multi-site Youth and the City Project examined the effects of globalization and neoliberalism on the everyday experiences and future prospects of urban youth in the developing world. The economic and demographic trends that are transforming cities and widening the gap between North and South are also making it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for young people to establish themselves as independent, self-sufficient adults in many parts of the world. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil, Vietnam, and Zambia, this volume integrates youth studies with urban studies, and argues that youth is an experience in its own right, not merely a transition from childhood to adulthood. In-depth case studies in three cities—Recife, Hanoi, and Lusaka—offer compelling insights into the situation of urban youth, exploring how they use their city, spend their time, and prepare themselves for the future. Cross-cutting essays examine how education shapes future citizens, young people's use of urban domestic space, and the media's role in expanding the life worlds of youth.

Barton J. Hirsch identifies the strengths of after-school settings while challenging them to rise to new levels of excellence. He describes his research conducted over a four-year period at six Boys & Girls Clubs all located in low income, predominantly minority, urban neighbourhoods.

This book offers insights from young trans, queer, and two-spirit Indigenous people in Toronto who examine the breadth and depth of meanings that two-spirit holds. Tracing the refusals and desires of these youth and their communities, Urban Indigenous Youth Reframing Two-Spirit expands critical conversations on queerness, Indigeneity, and community and simultaneously troubles the idea that articulating a definition of two-spirit is a worthwhile undertaking. Beyond the expansion of these conversations, this book also seeks to empower community members, educators, and young people — both Indigenous and non-Indigenous — to better support the self-determination of trans, queer, and two-spirit Indigenous youth. By including a research zine and community discussion guidelines, Laing demonstrates the possibility of powerful change that comes from Indigenous people creating spaces to share knowledge with one another.