Cities and social participation: Social inequalities from children's and youth's point of view

Social participation, as far as children and youth are concerned, stands as one of the rights of children formalized by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The present work is an attempt to contribute to the discussion on the ways whereby this right can be implemented, by raising the issue that children and youth constructively interpret social differences as a main feature of cities by providing explanations of social inequalities and their remedial mechanisms. Three case studies based on an action research invervention in three different institutions are presented. The analysis of focal group discussions with children and youth highlight their perspectives about life in the city: the city that they lived in and the city as they would like it to be demonstrating how children's and youth's views can provide a deep and critical understanding of their own society and the ways to change it.