‘They’ll be the ones that’s looking after it’ – unravelling institutional factors that shape children’s participation in urban planning for informal settlements

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sustainable Development Goal target 11.3 calls for ‘inclusive and sustainable urbanisation and capacities for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries’, yet children are systematically excluded from decision-making in urban planning structures, particularly in vulnerable settings. This case study examines the factors that shape children’s participation in urban planning processes for the revitalisation of water infrastructure in the Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) program in Suva, Fiji. This study aims to answer the research question ‘What are the factors that shape how children participate in informal settlement revitalisation in Suva, Fiji?’ The study utilises a qualitative case study to investigate the factors that underpin and reinforce structural, political, and economic systems of children’s exclusion. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 32 RISE staff and supporters to examine the individual, organisational and societal factors that shape children’s participation in the revitalisation of water infrastructure across 12 informal settlements. First, a typology of children’s participation is identified using definitions of children’s participation as a foundation. An institutional logics framework is then used as a conceptual lens to develop a children’s participation logic for RISE. The findings contribute to discourse on children’s participation in the context of urban planning in informal settlements and critically examine the barriers that perpetuate exclusion of children from these processes.