Youth Perception of Urban Vitality: A PhotoVoice Study on the Everyday Experiences of Public Space

Abstract

Spanish

Chinese

Promoting urban vitality has become an increasingly important focus among urban planners in the last decade. However, most definitions about what urban vitality consists of are based on quantitative methods, while the meaning and implications of vitality also need to be understood qualitatively. We conducted a study based on the PhotoVoice method in a low-income district in Barcelona, Spain, to explore how vitality is constructed among young people, a traditionally underrepresented group within the urban discussion and decision-making. The method, based on photography and group discussion, has proven effective to incorporate subjective perceptions and everyday life experiences on the understanding of the elements that contribute to urban vitality.

Keywords

PhotoVoice youth subjective vitality public space low-income district Barcelona

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ajuntament de Barcelona. 2021. “Household Income in Barcelona.” https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/barcelonaeconomia/sites/default/files/LA%20RENDA%20DE%20LES%20LLARS_2019.pdf

Akinci

Z. S.

Delclòs-Alió

Vich

Miralles-Guasch

2021. “Neighborhood Urban Design and Outdoor Later Life: An Objective Assessment of Out-of-Home Time and Physical Activity among Older Adults in Barcelona.” Journal of Aging and Physical Activity 29:781–92. doi:10.1123/japa.2020-0254.

Antón-Alonso

Porcel

2021. “La vulnerabilitat urbana a Barcelona: Persistència, concentració i complexitat.” [Urban vulnerability in Barcelona: Persistence, concentration and complexity] Papers: Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona: Territori, estratègies, planejament 63:50–67.

Arundel

Lowe

Roberts

Rozek

Higgs

Giles-Corti

2017. “Creating Liveable Cities in Australia: Mapping Urban Policy Implementation and Evidence-based National Liveability Indicators.” Número October. https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/creating-liveable-cities-in-australia-mapping-urban-policy-implem.

ASPB, and Plataforma de los Afectados por la Hipoteca. 2018. “Voces y Miradas: Inseguridad residencial y Salud.” [Voices and insights: residential insecurity and health] https://www.aspb.cat/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/voces-miradas.pdf.

Balvanz

Dodgen

Quinn

Holloway

Hudspeth

Eng

2016. “From Voice to Choice: African American Youth Examine Childhood Obesity in Rural North Carolina.” Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action 10 (2): 293–303. doi:10.1353/cpr.2016.0036.

Basolo

Yerena

2017. “Residential Mobility of Low-Income, Subsidized Households: A Synthesis of Explanatory Frameworks.” Housing Studies 32 (6): 841–62. doi:10.1080/02673037.2016.1240762.

Braun

L. M.

Malizia

2015. “Downtown Vibrancy Influences Public Health and Safety Outcomes in Urban Counties.” Journal of Transport and Health 2 (4): 540–48. doi:10.1016/j.jth.2015.08.005.

Bridgman

2004. “Criteria for Best Practices in Building Child-Friendly Cities: Involving Young People in Urban Planning and Design Author.” Canadian Journal of Urban Research 13 (2): 337–46.

10.

Brown

D. M.

2013. “Young People, Anti-social Behaviour and Public Space: The Role of Community Wardens in Policing the ‘ASBO Generation.’” Urban Studies 50 (3): 538–55. doi:10.1177/0042098012468899.

11.

Brown

S. C.

Mason

C. A.

Lombard

J. L.

Martinez

Plater-Zyberk

Spokane

A. R.

Newman

F. L.

Pantin

Szapocznik

2009. “The Relationship of Built Environment to Perceived Social Support and Psychological Distress in Hispanic Elders: The Role of ‘Eyes on the Street.’” Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 64 (2): 234–46. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbn011.

12.

Buttazzoni

Doherty

Minaker

2022. “How Do Urban Environments Affect Young People’s Mental Health? A Novel Conceptual Framework to Bridge Public Health, Planning, and Neurourbanism.” Public Health Reports 137(1): 48–61. doi:10.1177/0033354920982088.

13.

Clark

W. A. V.

Duque-Calvache

Palomares-Linares

2017. “Place Attachment and the Decision to Stay in the Neighbourhood.” Population, Space and Place 23 (2): e2001. doi:10.1002/psp.2001.

14.

Coemans

Raymakers

A. L.

Vandenabeele

Hannes

2019. “Evaluating the Extent to Which Social Researchers Apply Feminist and Empowerment Frameworks in Photovoice Studies with Female Participants: A Literature Review.” Qualitative Social Work 18 (1): 37–59. doi:10.1177/1473325017699263.

15.

Davis

Harris

Johnson

Pennington

Redus

Sanders

Ta-Nesert

N. H.

G. , et al 2020. “Black Women’s Perspectives on Neighborhood Safety: Reflections from the Women of Northeast Oklahoma City Photovoice Project.” Gender, Place and Culture 27 (7): 917–43. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2019.1611547.

16.

Delclòs-Alió

Miralles-Guasch

2018. “Looking at Barcelona through Jane Jacobs’s Eyes: Mapping the Basic Conditions for Urban Vitality in a Mediterranean Conurbation.” Land Use Policy 75: 505–17. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.026.

17.

De Nadai

Staiano

Larcher

Sebe

Quercia

Lepri

2016. “The Death and Life of Great Italian Cities: A Mobile Phone Data Perspective.” 25th International World Wide Web Conference, April 11–15, Montréal, QC, Canada. doi:10.1145/2872427.2883084.

18.

Derr

Simons

2020. “A Review of Photovoice Applications in Environment, Sustainability, and Conservation Contexts: Is the Method Maintaining Its Emancipatory Intents?” Environmental Education Research 26 (3): 359–80. doi:10.1080/13504622.2019.1693511.

19.

Díez

Conde

Sandin

Urtasun

López

Luis

Gittelsohn

Franco

2017. “Understanding the Local Food Environment: A Participatory Photovoice Project in a Low-Income Area in Madrid, Spain.” Health & Place 43: 95–103. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.11.012.

20.

Elorrieta Sanz

García Martín

Cerdan Schwitzguébel

Torres Delgado

2021. “La ‘guerra de las terrazas’: Privatización del espacio público por el turismo en Sevilla y Barcelona.” [The “war of terraces”: Privatization of public space by tourism in Sevilla and Barcelona] Cuadernos de Turismo 47:229–59. doi:10.6018/turismo.474091.

21.

Erfani

2021. “Visualising Urban Redevelopment: Photovoice as a Narrative Research Method for Investigating Redevelopment Processes and Outcomes.” Geoforum 126 (July): 80–90. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.07.021.

22.

Fleckney

Bentley

2021. “The Urban Public Realm and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review.” Social Science and Medicine 284:114242. doi:10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2021.114242.

23.

Frago

. 2020. “Consumo y espacio público: Las terrazas de bares y restaurantes en Barcelona.” [Consumption and public space: Bar and restaurant terraces in Barcelona] Comercio, Consumo & Gobernanza Urbana 1867:51–66.

24.

Freire

1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum.

25.

Freire

1973. Education for Critical Consciousness. New York: Seabury Press.

26.

García

Eizaguirre

Pradel

2015. “Social Innovation and Creativity in Cities: A Socially Inclusive Governance Approach in Two Peripheral Spaces of Barcelona.” City, Culture and Society 6 (4): 93–100. doi:10.1016/j.ccs.2015.07.001.

27.

Garcia Soler

M. C

. 1998. “Nou Barris.” Itineraris (Salesians. Inspectoria Mare de Déu de la Mercè). Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Districte de Nou Barris.

28.

Gehl

2010. Cities for People. Washington, DC: Island Press.

29.

GEMOTT. (2022). “Fotoveu. A la recerca dels espais vitals a Nou Barris.” [Photovoice. In search of vital spaces in Nou Barris] https://fotoveu.wordpress.com/

30.

GEMOTT UAB (Director). (2022). “Fotoveu—A la recerca dels espais vitals a Nou Barris (Barcelona).” [Photovoice - In search of vital spaces in Nou Barris (Barcelona)] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjvwRjqJs0M.

31.

Ghimire

2021. “Homeownership and Community Involvement: Results from the 2019 Metro Atlanta Speaks Survey.” Housing Policy Debate 31 (6): 837–61. doi:10.1080/10511482.2020.1828990.

32.

Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force. 2020. “C40 MayOrs’ Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery.” https://www.c40.org/what-we-do/raising-climate-ambition/green-just-recovery-agenda/.

33.

Gómez-Varo

Delclòs-Alió

Miralles-Guasch

2021. “Vitalidad urbana y vida cotidiana: Revisitando a Jane Jacobs desde el análisis espacial del comercio alimentario en Barcelona.” [Urban vitality and everyday life: Revisiting Jane Jacobs from the spatial analysis of food retail in Barcelona] Cuadernos Geográficos 60 (3): 147–67. doi:10.30827/cuadgeo.v60i3.16962.

34.

Gómez-Varo

Delclòs-Alió

Miralles-Guasch

2022. “Jane Jacobs Reloaded: A Contemporary Operationalization of Urban Vitality in a District in Barcelona.” Cities 123 (103565): 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2022.103565.

35.

Gravina

Jauregi

Estebanez

Fernández-Aedo

Guenaga

Ballesteros-

Peña Díez

Franco

2020. “Residents’ Perceptions of their Local Food Environment in Socioeconomically Diverse Neighborhoods: A Photovoice Study.” Appetite 147: 104543. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2019.104543.

36.

Guan

C. H.

Rowe

P. G.

2016. “The Concept of Urban Intensity and China’s Townization Policy: Cases from Zhejiang Province.” Cities 55:22–41. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2016.03.012.

37.

Guinand

2021. “Exploring Lived Space of New Build Urban Environment through Photovoice Interview. The Case of Donau City in Vienna.” Cidades, Comunidades e Territórios 43:156–84. doi:10.15847/cct.23864.

38.

Gullón

Díez

Conde

Ramos

Márquez

Badland

Escobar

Franco

2019. “Using Photovoice to Examine Physical Activity in the Urban Context and Generate Policy Recommendations: The Heart Healthy Hoods Study.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16 (5): 1–16. doi:10.3390/ijerph16050749.

39.

Song

Yin

Mou

2018. “The Impact of Urban Growth Patterns on Urban Vitality in Newly Built-Up Areas Based on an Association Rules Analysis Using Geographical ‘Big Data.’” Land Use Policy 78: 726–38. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.07.020.

40.

Hemy

A. D.

Meshulam

2021. “‘Shooting Your Voice’: Challenging Power Relations at School through Photovoice.” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 43:944–60. doi:10.1080/01596306.2021.1937944.

41.

Humphrey

Shane

Small

Thurston

2017. “Analysis of Urban Vibrancy and Safety in Philadelphia.” Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science 47 (1): 1573–87. doi:10.1177/2399808319830403.

42.

Jacobs

1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Penguin Books in association with J. Cape.

43.

Kang

Fan

Jiao

2020. “Validating Activity, Time, and Space Diversity as Essential Components of Urban Vitality.” Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science 48 (5): 1180–97. doi:10.1177/2399808320919771.

44.

Kim

Y. L.

2018. “Seoul’s Wi-Fi hotspots: Wi-Fi Access Points as an Indicator of Urban Vitality.” Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 72: 13–24. doi:10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2018.06.004.

45.

Kornbluh

Ozer

E. J.

Allen

C. D.

Kirshner

2015. “Youth Participatory Action Research as an Approach to Sociopolitical Development and the New Academic Standards: Considerations for Educators.” Urban Review 47 (5): 868–92. doi:10.1007/s11256-015-0337-6.

46.

Leclercq

Pojani

Van Bueren

2020. “Is Public Space Privatization Always Bad for the Public? Mixed Evidence from the United Kingdom.” Cities 100: 102649. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2020.102649.

47.

Leyden

K. M.

2003. “Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods.” American Journal of Public Health 93 (9): 1546–51. doi:10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1546.

48.

Liang

D’Uva

Scandiffio

Rolando

2022. “The More Walkable, the More Livable?—Can Urban Attractiveness Improve Urban Vitality?” Transportation Research Procedia 60 (2021): 322–29. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2021.12.042.

49.

Lim

V. C.

Justine

E. V.

Yusof

Mohamad Ariffin

W. N. S. W.

Goh

H. C.

Fadzil

K. S.

2021. “Eliciting Local Knowledge of Ecosystem Services Using Participatory Mapping and Photovoice: A Case Study of Tun Mustapha Park, Malaysia.” PLoS ONE 16:e0253740. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253740.

50.

Lopes

M. N.

Camanho

A. S.

2013. “Public Green Space Use and Consequences on Urban Vitality: An Assessment of European Cities.” Social Indicators Research 113 (3): 751–67. doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0106-9.

51.

Huang

Shi

Yang

2019. “Exploring the Associations between Urban form and Neighborhood Vibrancy: A Case Study of Chengdu, China.” ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 8 (4): 1–15. doi:10.3390/ijgi8040165.

52.

Lunecke

M. G. H.

Mora

2018. “The Layered City: Pedestrian Networks in Downtown Santiago and their Impact on Urban Vitality.” Journal of Urban Design 23 (3): 336–53. doi:10.1080/13574809.2017.1369869.

53.

Maas

P. R.

1984. Towards a Theory of Urban Vitality. Vancouver: Editado por University British Columbia.

54.

Malone

2002. “Street Life: Youth, Culture and Competing Uses of Public Space.” Environment and Urbanization 14 (2): 157–68. doi:10.1177/095624780201400213.

55.

Marquet

Miralles-Guasch

2016. “Introducing Urban Vitality as a Determinant of Children’s Healthy Mobility Habits: A Focus on Activity Engagement and Physical Activity.” Children’s Geographies 14 (6): 656–69. doi:10.1080/14733285.2016.1157572.

56.

Mazumdar

Learnihan

Cochrane

Davey

2018. “The Built Environment and Social Capital: A Systematic Review.” Environment and Behavior 50 (2): 119–58. doi:10.1177/0013916516687343.

57.

McTaggart

1999. “Principles for Participatory Action Research.” Adult Education Quarterly 41 (3): 168–87.

58.

Meeder

Aebi

Weidmann

2017. “The Influence of Slope on Walking Activity and the Pedestrian Modal Share.” Transportation Research Procedia 27:141–47. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.095.

59.

Mehdipanah

Malmusi

Muntaner

Borrell

2013. “An Evaluation of an Urban Renewal Program and Its Effects on Neighborhood Resident’s Overall Wellbeing Using Concept Mapping.” Health and Place 23:9–17. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.04.009.

60.

Mitchell

Staeheli

L. A.

2009. Public Space. In International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, edited by Kitchin

Thrift

, 511–16. Amsterdam: Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-008044910-4.00990-1.

61.

Montgomery

2007. “Is There Still Life in the Death and Life?” Journal of the American Planning Association 64 (3): 269–74. doi:10.1080/01944369808975984.

62.

Oldenburg

1999. The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. New York: Marlowe & Company.

63.

Painter

1996. “The Influence of Street Lighting Improvements on Crime, Fear and Pedestrian Street Use, after Dark.” Landscape and Urban Planning 35 (2–3): 193–201. doi:10.1016/0169-2046(96)00311-8.

64.

Power

E. R.

Williams

M. J.

2019. “Cities of Care: A Platform for Urban Geographical Care Research.” Geography Compass 14:e12474. doi:10.1111/gec3.12474.

65.

Rosado

J. I.

Rivera

Fernandez

2020. “Perceived Role of Built and Social Environments on Childhood Obesity: A PhotoVoice Approach with Latino Migrant Farmworking Families.” Family and Community Health 43 (3): 221–28. doi:10.1097/FCH.0000000000000257.

66.

Rose

2014. “On the Relation between ‘Visual Research Methods’ and Contemporary Visual Culture.” Sociological Review 62 (1): 24–46. doi:10.1111/1467-954X.12109.

67.

Sampson

Nassauer

Schulz

Hurd

Dorman

Ligon

2017. “Landscape Care of Urban Vacant Properties and Implications for Health and Safety: Lessons from Photovoice.” Health and Place 46 (May): 219–28. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2017.05.017.

68.

Sánchez de Madariaga

2013. “Mobility of Care Introducing New Concepts in Urban Transport.” In Fair Shared Cities. The Impact of Gender Planning in Europe, edited by Roberts

Sánchez de Madariaga

, 33–48. New York: Routledge.

69.

Sánchez-Ledesma

Vásquez-Vera

Sagarra

Peralta

Porthé

Díez

È.

2020. “Perceived Pathways between Tourism Gentrification and Health: A Participatory Photovoice Study in the Gòtic Neighborhood in Barcelona.” Social Science and Medicine 258 (June): 113095. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113095.

70.

Sassen

2016. “How Jane Jacobs Changed the Way We Look at Cities.” The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/04/jane-jacobs-100th-birthday-saskia-sassen.

71.

Sennett

1977. The Fall of Public Man. New York: W.W. Norton.

72.

Sennett

2018. Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City. New York: Penguin Books.

73.

Shach-Pinsly

2019. “Measuring Security in the Built Environment: Evaluating Urban Vulnerability in a Human-Scale Urban Form.” Landscape and Urban Planning 191 (August): 103412. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.08.022.

74.

Shannon

Borron

Kurtz

Weaver

2020. “Re-envisioning Emergency Food Systems Using Photovoice and Concept Mapping.” Journal of Mixed Methods Research 15:114–37. doi:10.1177/1558689820933778.

75.

Springer

2020. “Caring Geographies: The COVID-19 Interregnum and a Return to Mutual Aid.” Dialogues in Human Geography 10 (2): 112–15. doi:10.1177/2043820620931277.

76.

Sternberg

2000. “An Integrative Theory of Urban Design.” Journal of the American Planning Association 66 (3): 265–78. doi:10.1080/01944360008976106.

77.

Sulis

Manley

Zhong

Batty

2018. “Using Mobility Data as Proxy for Measuring Urban Vitality.” Journal of Spatial Information Science 16 (16): 137–62. doi:10.5311/JOSIS.2018.16.384.

78.

Sung

Lee

Cheon

S. H.

2015. “Operationalizing Jane Jacobs’s Urban Design Theory: Empirical Verification from the Great City of Seoul, Korea.” Journal of Planning Education and Research 35 (2): 117–30. doi:10.1177/0739456X14568021.

79.

Sutton-Brown

C. A.

2014. “Photovoice: A Methodological Guide.” Photography and Culture 7 (2): 169–85. doi:10.2752/175145214X13999922103165.

80.

Szczepańska

Pietrzyka

2021. “The COVID-19 Epidemic in Poland and Its Influence on the Quality of Life of University Students (Young Adults) in the Context of Restricted Access to Public Spaces.” Journal of Public Health 31:295–305. doi:10.1007/s10389-020-01456-z.

81.

Volpe

C. R.

2019. “Digital Diaries: New Uses of PhotoVoice in Participatory Research with Young People.” Children’s Geographies 17 (3): 361–70. doi:10.1080/14733285.2018.1543852.

82.

Wang

Ann Burris

1997. “Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment.” Health Education and Behavior 24 (3): 369–87.

83.

Wang

C. C

. 1999. “Photovoice: A Participatory Action Research Strategy Applied to Women’s Health.” Journal of Women’s Health 8 (2): 185–92. doi:10.1089/jwh.1999.8.185.

84.

Webb Jamme

H. T.

Bahl

Banerjee

2018. “Between ‘Broken Windows’ and the ‘Eyes on the Street’: Walking to School in Inner City San Diego.” Journal of Environ-mental Psychology 55:121–38. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.01.004.

85.

Yoon

Park

2018. “Stage Classification and Characteristics Analysis of Commercial Gentrification in Seoul.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 10 (7): 2440. doi:10.3390/su10072440.

86.

Zeng

Song

Shen

2018. “Spatially Explicit Assessment on Urban Vitality: Case Studies in Chicago and Wuhan.” Sustainable Cities and Society 40:296–306. doi:10.1016/j.scs.2018.04.021.