Cities are endlessly changing, but who is change for? How do young people feel about regeneration of their neighbourhoods? How can we ensure young residents have a voice - and are heard - in critical planning decisions that affect their lives and their communities?
In 2020, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit’s Barbara Lipietz and community organisations Pempeople and The Ubele Initiative came together to explore new methods of public voicing for young people. The result was a series of on-line, open-call participatory workshops with young people from Peckham and Brixton. Facilitated by poet and performance artist Kat François and interdisciplinary media artist Daniel Oduntan, the sessions explored notions of belonging, change and displacement, race, age and labelling, Covid lockdowns and mental health, voicelessness and the importance of active listening when designing tools to empower. Participants experimented with poetry, spoken word, and mobile filmmaking, inside and outside the workshops.
Sensing the City: Young People and Regeneration in London is an experimental collaborative project between The Bartlett’s Development Planning Unit: Dr. Barbara Lipietz- PI; Pempeople; The Ubele Initiative; poet and performance artist Kat François; interdisciplinary media artist Daniel Oduntan; and Esta Orchard.
Poems and footage contributions from (and with gratitude to): Tyreece Asamoa, Romey Skye, Eliseo, Faruq Hashi, Jaffar Aly, Kelsea Delatango @_delatango, Sofia Whilby, Mattia Guarnera, Alka Suralia @alkacin0, Shay casonova @shaycasonova and Hammed Oyefuwa @hammed_oy Graphics: Ottavia Pasta.
Funding: UCL’s Performance Lab, UCL Culture and The Bartlett’s Development Planning Unit.
