Mechanisms for trust-building and empowering youth to participate in urban decision making for increased safety and well-being of young people.

Amidst rapid population growth and urbanisation, young people in cities are particularly vulnerable to unsafe and insecure environments – often experiencing injuries and interpersonal violence resulting from lack of safe transportation, poor living and working conditions, lack of access to services, and inadequate infrastructure (WHO, 2021). Young people’s ongoing vulnerability and insecurity in urban environments stems from their inability to influence or alter their surroundings and their exclusion from decision-making processes (Audrey, Batista-Ferrer, 2015). Decision-making power tends to rest disproportionately with older generations who do not meaningfully account for the realities and needs of younger generations. As young people inherit some of the largest challenges in history, their participation in urban decision-making is required to drive safe and resilient cities that promote the wellbeing of generations to come.

This Voices from Cities panel discussion will convene youth leaders and urban development practitioners from the Philippines, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bangladesh to showcase successful approaches to institutionalizing youth engagement in urban decision-making. The session will highlight how different contexts benefit from different approaches to systems change. For instance, in Bangladesh, formal mechanisms like youth councils have proven effective, while participants from Colombia, Ecuador and the Philippines will speak to trust-building and relationship-based engagement, as well as formal mechanisms, as being critical to young peoples’ empowered engagement with local government actors. The event will showcase how these approaches can complement each other in fostering meaningful youth participation in urban decision-making and ultimately creating safer cities for young people.

Through a series of panel discussions and interactive dialogues, participants will explore how trust-building between youth and local authorities and formal systems of engagement have transformed urban development in various global contexts. This event aims to inspire urban leaders and practitioners by demonstrating diverse strategies for integrating youth voices into urban governance, ultimately contributing to safer, more inclusive, and resilient cities.