Youth in Placemaking: Barriers and Benefits:  Lessons from Cuenca, Bandung and Envigado

Viviana A. Cordero-Vinueza; Vija Viese

doi:10.32891/jps.v10i1.1808

Cover image: Skateboard Park under the bridge located beside the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, Taiwan. Picture by Poh Soo Donald Soh

PDF Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4

Published: Oct 11, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32891/jps.v10i1.1808

Keywords:

placemaking youth public space participation

Viviana A. Cordero-Vinueza

University of Groningen

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6735-3845

Vija Viese

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5398-4826

Abstract

Youth well-being and development are shaped by their physical environments, yet youth presence in public space is declining globally. Placemaking offers a promising strategy for re-engagement, though its benefits have been mostly studied in the Global North. This paper examines youth-led placemaking in Ecuador, Indonesia, and Colombia through interviews, focus groups, and secondary data. Findings reveal barriers related to cumbersome collaboration with other stakeholders, persisting stigma towards youth, and linguistic challenges. Nonetheless, shared benefits emerged across contexts, including increased use of space, skills development, place attachment, safety, connectedness, and youth agency.

How to Cite

Cordero-Vinueza, V. A. and Viese, V. (2025) “Youth in Placemaking: Barriers and Benefits: Lessons from Cuenca, Bandung and Envigado”, The Journal of Public Space, 10(1), pp. 83–106. doi: 10.32891/jps.v10i1.1808.

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2025): Safe and Sound Cities

Section

Academic

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Author Biographies

Viviana A. Cordero-Vinueza, University of Groningen

Viviana Cordero-Vinueza is an Ecuadorian lawyer and urban planning specialist, driven by social and environmental justice. She is a co-founder of Huasipichanga, an interdisciplinary consultancy for urban transformations that aims at positively impacting communities by co-creating more inclusive, playful, and livable cities.
She is a Ph.D. candidate in Spatial Science at the University of Groningen and a lecturer at the Catholic University of Ecuador and at the Business School Rotterdam. Her research focuses on how child-friendly cities are included in the local governance agendas, and her lectures are focused on urban development and social entrepreneurship.
Viviana is a leader and member of global networks such as PlacemakingX, the Real Play City Challenge, The City at Eye Level for Kids, Ashoka, ChangemakerXchange, Trust in Play: European School of Urban Game Design, and environmental activism collectives in Latin America. She has experience in placemaking, public policy, urban pedagogy, and project management, and has participated as a public speaker in conferences worldwide, also as a TedX speaker.

Vija Viese, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Vija Viese is an urban designer and researcher currently pursuing a PhD at NTNU in Norway, focusing on flood resilience. Her work explores environmental care and just flood adaptation within marginalised and under-resourced communities, with case studies in Kenya, Tunisia, and Nepal. This practice-based research aims to produce physical outputs alongside reflective academic writing through participatory action research methodology.
Vija is an urban professional with 8 years of experience blending practical work in urban planning and design, as well as practice-based academic research. She holds a master’s degree in architecture from ENSA Nantes in France and has worked in practice as a project manager in urban development, focusing on sustainability, eco-responsible construction, and disaster risk reduction. She has considerable experience in organising and facilitating community engagement through participation and co-production methods with local communities.

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