Applying an anti-adultist theoretical framework, this paper utilizes content analysis to assess youth representation within Maryland county and municipal comprehensive plans. All county plans reference youth, but over a quarter of municipal plans omit any reference to adolescents. Nearly half of the plans (45.80%; n = 60) reproduce adultist views of young people, while a small fraction (7.63%; n = 10) incorporate anti-adultist perspectives. Most plans (73.28%; n = 96) acknowledge the need for distinct youth services. However, nominal recognition of youth without meaningful youth empowerment falls short of anti-adultist praxis. Planning scholars and practitioners must grapple with adultist bias to foster youth inclusion and recognize youth as valuable community members with needs and preferences that are distinct from other age groups.
AdamsMaurianneBlumenfeldWarren J.CastañedaRosieHackmanHeather W.PetersMadeline L.ZúñigaXimena. 2000. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York: Psychology Press.
3.
AkiyamaM.2010. “Silent Alarm: The Mosquito Youth Deterrent and the Politics of Frequency.” Canadian Journal of Communication35 (3): 455–71. doi:10.22230/cjc.2010v35n3a2261.
BotchweyNisha D.JohnsonNickO’ConnellL. KatieKimAnna J.2019. “Including Youth in the Ladder of Citizen Participation: Adding Rungs of Consent, Advocacy, and Incorporation.” Journal of the American Planning Association85 (3): 255–70. doi:10.1080/01944363.2019.1616319.
9.
BreitbartMyrna MarguliesKepesImre. 2007. “The YouthPower Story: How Adults Can Better Support Young People’s Sustained Participation in Community-Based Planning.” Children, Youth and Environments17 (2): 226–53. doi:10.1353/cye.2007.0073.
10.
CarsonClayborne. 1995. In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
11.
ChawlaLouise. 2001. “Evaluating Children’s Participation: Seeking Areas of Consensus.” PLA Notes42:9–13.
12.
ChawlaLouiseMaloneKaren. 2003. “Neighborhood Quality in Children’s Eyes.” In Children in the City, 136–59. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203167236-12.
13.
CheckowayBarry. 2011. “What is Youth Participation?”Children and Youth Services Review33 (2): 340–45. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2010.09.017.
14.
CheckowayBarryPothukuchiKameshwariFinnJanet. 1995. “Youth Participation in Community Planning: What Are the Benefits?”Journal of Planning Education and Research14 (2): 134–39. doi:10.1177/0739456x9501400206.
15.
CohenStephan. 2007. The Gay Liberation Youth Movement in New York: “An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail.”London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203940570.
16.
ConnerJerusha O.2016. “Pawns or Power Players: The Grounds on Which Adults Dismiss or Defend Youth Organizers in the USA.” Journal of Youth Studies19 (3): 403–20. doi:10.1080/13676261.2015.1083958.
17.
ConnerJerusha O.OberC. NathanBrownAmanda S.2016. “The Politics of Paternalism: Adult and Youth Perspectives on Youth Voice in Public Policy.” Teachers College Record118 (8): 1–48. doi:10.1177/016146811611800805.
18.
CôtéJames E.AllaharAnton. 1996. Generation on Hold: Coming of Age in the Late Twentieth Century. New York: NYU Press.
19.
CrenshawKimberlé. 2016. “On Intersectionality.” In Women of the World Festival.
20.
CushingDebra Flanders. 2016. “Youth Master Plans as Potential Roadmaps to Creating Child-and Youth-Friendly Cities.” Planning Practice & Research31 (2): 154–73. doi:10.1080/02697459.2015.1110472.
21.
CushingDebra Flandersvan VlietWillem. 2017. “Children’s Right to the City: The Emergence of Youth Councils in the United States.” Children’s Geographies15 (3): 319–33. doi:10.1080/14733285.2016.1244602
22.
DamonWilliam. 2004. “What is Positive Youth Development?.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science591 (1): 13–24. doi:10.1177/0002716203260092.
23.
DavidNina PalmyBuchananAdria. 2020. “Planning Our Future: Institutionalizing Youth Participation in Local Government Planning Efforts.” Planning Theory & Practice21 (1): 9–38. doi:10.1080/14649357.2019.1696981.
24.
DeJongKeriLoveBarbara J.2015. “Youth Oppression as a Technology of Colonialism: Conceptual Frameworks and Possibilities for Social Justice Education Praxis.” Equity & Excellence in Education48 (3): 489–508. doi:10.1080/10665684.2015.1057086.
25.
DerrVictoriaChawlaLouiseMintzerMaraCushingDebra FlandersVan VlietWillem. 2013. “A City for All Citizens: Integrating Children and Youth From Marginalized Populations into City Planning.” Buildings3 (3): 482–505. doi:10.3390/buildings3030482.
26.
DerrVictoriaTarantiniEmily. 2016. “Because We Are All People: Outcomes and Reflections from Young People’s Participation in the Planning and Design of Child-Friendly Public Places.” Local Environment21(12): 1534–56. doi:10.1080/13549839.2016.1145643.
27.
DriskellD.2002. Creating Better Cities with Children and Youth: A Manual for Participation. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315071930
28.
EdelmanLee. 2020. No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive. Durham: Duke University Press. doi:10.1515/9780822385981
29.
EloSatuKyngäsHelvi. 2008. “The qualitative content analysis process.” Journal of Advanced Nursing62 (1): 107–15. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x.
30.
FaulknerElizabeth A.NyamutataConrad. 2020. “The Decolonisation of Children’s Rights and the Colonial Contours of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” The International Journal of Children’s Rights28 (1): 66–88. doi:10.1163/15718182-02801009.
31.
FeldmanS. ShirleyElliottGlen R.ElliottGlen R.1990. At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
32.
FletcherAdam. 2015. Facing Adultism. CreateSpace.
33.
FrancisMarkLorenzoRay. 2002. “Seven Realms of Children’s Participation.” Journal of Environmental Psychology22 (1–2): 157–69. doi:10.1006/jevp.2001.0248.
34.
FrankKathryn I.2006. “The Potential of Youth Participation in Planning.” Journal of Planning Literature20 (4): 351–71. doi:10.1177/0885412205286016.
35.
FriedmanJohn. 1971. “The Future of Comprehensive Urban Planning: A Critique.” Public Administration Review31 (3): 315–26. doi:10.2307/974890.
36.
GilbertEugene. 1948. “The Youth Market.” Journal of Marketing13 (1): 79–80. doi:10.1177/002224294801300113.
37.
GilbertJen. 2014. Sexuality in School: The Limits of Education. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
38.
GillisJohn R.2013. Youth and History: Tradition and Change in European Age Relations, 1770–Present. New York: Academic Press Inc.
39.
GirouxHenry A.2009. “Youth in the Empire of Consumption: Beyond the Pedagogy of Commodification.” JAC29 (4): 691–756. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20866922.
40.
GleitRebecca D.2022. “Cops on Campus: The Racial Patterning of Police in Schools.” Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World8:1–18. doi:10.1177/23780231221108037.
41.
GoldinClaudiaKatzLawrence F.2008. “Mass Secondary Schooling and the State: The Role of State Compulsion in the High School Movement.” In Understanding Long-Run Economic Growth: Geography, Institutions, and the Knowledge Economy, 275–310. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226116426.003.0010
42.
GraneheimUlla H.LundmanBerit. 2004. “Qualitative Content Analysis in Nursing Research: Concepts, Procedures and Measures to Achieve Trustworthiness.” Nurse Education Today24 (2): 105–12. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001
43.
GubaEgon G.LincolnYvonna S.1994. “Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research.” In Handbook of Qualitative Research, edited by DenzinNorman KLincolnYvonna S, 105–17. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
44.
HallSeventy F.2020. “A Conceptual Mapping of Three Anti-Adultist Approaches to Youth Work.” Journal of Youth Studies23 (10): 1293–1309. doi:10.1080/13676261.2019.1669775.
45.
HallSeventy F.2021. “Panoptical Time, Cissexism, and Heterosexism: How Discourses of Adultism Discipline Queer and Trans Youth.” Feminist Formations33 (2): 283–312. doi:10.1353/ff.2021.0035.
46.
HartRoger A.2008. “Stepping Back from ‘The Ladder’: Reflections on a Model of Participatory Work with Children.” In Participation and Learning, 19–31. Cham: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6416-6_2.
47.
HarveyDavid. 2012. Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. New York: Verso Books.
48.
HorschelmannKathrinvan BlerkLorraine. 2012. Children, Youth and the City. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203967560.
49.
HowellKathryn L.2018. “‘For the Kids’: Children, Safety, and the Depoliticization of Displacement in Washington, DC.” Journal of Urban Affairs40 (5): 721–39. doi:10.1080/07352166.2017.1360742.
50.
HsiehHsiu-FangShannonSarah E.2005. “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis.” Qualitative Health Research15 (9): 1277–88. doi:10.1177/1049732305276687.
51.
IbrahimAwadSteinbergShirley R.HuttonLindsay. 2014. Critical Youth Studies Reader. New York: Peter Lang. doi:10.3726/978-1-4539-1271-3.
52.
JepsonEdward J.Jr.WeitzJerry. 2020. Fundamentals of Plan Making: Methods and Techniques. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003089971.
53.
KellyEric Damian. 2012. Community Planning: An Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan. Island Press.
54.
KettJoseph F.2003. “Reflections on the History of Adolescence in America.” The History of the Family8 (3): 355–73. doi:10.1016/s1081-602x(03)00042-3.
55.
Knowles- YánezKimberley L.2005. “Children’s Participation in Planning Processes.” Journal of Planning Literature20 (1): 3–14. doi:10.1177/0885412205277032.
56.
KumarSandeepPallathucherilVarkki George. 2004. “Analyzing Planning and Design Discourses.” Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design31 (6): 829–46. doi:10.1068/b3048.
57.
LefebvreHenri. 1968. Le droit a la Ville. Anthropos.
58.
LeskoNancy. 2012. Act Your Age! A Cultural Construction of Adolescence. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203614693.
59.
LiHaibinLiebenbergLindaUngarMichael. 2015. “Understanding Service Provision and Utilization for Vulnerable Youth: Evidence from Multiple Informants.” Children and Youth Services Review56:18–25. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.06.012.
LindblomCharles E.1959. “The Science of ‘Muddling Through.’”Public Administration Review19 (2): 79–88. doi:10.2307/973677.
62.
Lleras-MuneyAdriana. 2002. “Were Compulsory Attendance and Child Labor Laws Effective? An analysis from 1915 to 1939.” The Journal of Law and Economics45 (2): 401–35. doi:10.1086/340393
63.
LohCarolyn G.KimRose. 2021. “Are We Planning for Equity? Equity Goals and Recommendations in Local Comprehensive Plans.” Journal of the American Planning Association87 (2): 181–96. doi:10.1080/01944363.2020.1829498.
64.
LylesWardStevensMark. 2014. “Plan Quality Evaluation 1994–2012: Growth and Contributions, Limitations, and New Directions.” Journal of Planning Education and Research34 (4): 433–50. doi:10.1177/0739456x14549752.
65.
LynchKevinBanerjeeTridib. 1977. Growing Up in Cities: Studies of the Spatial Environment of Adolescence in Cracow, Melbourne, Mexico City, Salta, Toluca, and Warszawa. Cambridge: MIT Press.
66.
MacleodDavid I.2004. Building Character in the American Boy: The Boy Scouts, YMCA, and Their Forerunners, 1870-1920. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
67.
MalesMike A.MacallairDan. 1999. “An Analysis of Curfew Enforcement and Juvenile Crime in California.” Western Criminology Review1 (2): 1–26.
MatthewsHugh. 1995. “Living on the Edge: Children as ‘Outsiders.’”Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie86 (5): 456–66. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9663.1995.tb01867.x.
70.
McClintockAnne. 2013. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. London: Routledge.
71.
McKoyDeborah L.EppleyAmandaBussShirl. 2022. Planning Cities with Young People and Schools: Forging Justice, Generating Joy. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003141778.
72.
McKoyDeborah L.GarciaDavid H.2023. “Why Plan? A Two-Decade Exploration into How and Why to Engage Young People in City Planning and Diversify the Planning Pipeline.” In Routledge Companion to Professional Awareness and Diversity in Planning Education. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003254003-13.
73.
McKoyDeborah L.StewartJessieBussShirl. 2015. “Engaging Students in Transforming their Built Environment via Y-Plan: Lessons from Richmond, California.” Children, Youth and Environments25 (2): 229–44. doi:10.7721/chilyoutenvi.25.2.0229.
74.
MorganDavid L.1993. “Qualitative Content Analysis: A Guide to Paths Not Taken.” Qualitative Health Research3 (1): 112–21. doi:10.1177/104973239300300107.
75.
MuñozCarlos. 2007. Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement. New York: Verso Books.
76.
NeumanMichael. 1998. “Does Planning Need the Plan?”Journal of the American Planning Association64 (2): 208–20. doi:10.1080/01944369808975976.
77.
NogueraPedroCammarotaJulioGinwrightShawn. 2013. Beyond Resistance! Youth Activism and Community Change. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203961001.
78.
OwensPatsy Eubanks. 2002. “No Teens Allowed: The Exclusion of Adolescents from Public Spaces.” Landscape Journal21 (1): 156–63. doi:10.3368/lj.21.1.156
79.
PassonCamilleLeviDanielDel RioVicente. 2008. “Implications of Adolescents’ Perceptions and Values for Planning and Design.” Journal of Planning Education and Research28 (1): 73–85. doi:10.1177/0739456x08319236.
RasailiTirtha. 2023. “Socio-Spatial Attributes of Age-friendliness in Swedish Municipalities’ Comprehensive Plans: A Content Analysis.” In SBEUT-Sustainable Built Environment and Urban Transition Conference.
82.
RogoveanuRaluca. 2007. “Allen Ginsberg: Private Rebellion and Public Dissent.” Communication and Argumentation in the Public Sphere1 (3): 464–69.
83.
RothJodieBrooks-GunnJeanne. 2000. “What do Adolescents Need for Healthy Development? Implications for youth policy.” Social Policy Report14 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1002/j.2379-3988.2000.tb00012.x.
84.
RowntreeJohnRowntreeMargaret. 1968. The Political Economy of Youth: Youth as a Class. Radical Education Project.
85.
Santos JuniorOrlando Alves dos. 2014. “Urban Common Space, Heterotopia and the Right to the City: Reflections on the Ideas of Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey.” Revista Brasileira De Gestão Urbana6:146–57. doi:10.7213/urbe.06.002.se02.
86.
SarmientoCarolina S.DuarteCatherine. 2023. “All Paths Leading to the Library: Youth Mobility and Community-Based Planning.” Journal of Planning Education and Research43 (2): 388–401. doi:10.1177/0739456x19882985
87.
ScottJames C.1998. Seeing Like a State. New Haven: Yale University Press.
88.
ShreveBradley G.2012. Red Power Rising: The National Indian Youth Council and the Origins of Native Activism. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
89.
SlettoBjornVasudevanRaksha. 2024. “Walking with Youth in Los Platanitos: Learning Mobilities, Youth Inclusion, and Co-Production in International Planning Studios.” Journal of Planning Education and Research44 (2): 590–604. doi:10.1177/0739456x211027635.
90.
SmileyCalvin JohnFakunleDavid. 2016. “From ‘Brute’ to ‘Thug’: The Demonization and Criminalization of Unarmed Black Male Victims in America.” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment26 (3–4): 350–66. doi:10.1080/10911359.2015.1129256.
91.
StieglerSam. 2017. “’Getting to [Un]know You’: Opening Up Constructions and Imaginations of Youth.” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education38 (6): 892–905. doi:10.1080/01596306.2016.1187114.
TuckerFaithMatthewsHugh. 2001. “‘They Don’t Like Girls Hanging Around There’: Conflicts over recreational space in rural Northamptonshire.” Area33 (2): 161–68. doi:10.1111/1475-4762.00019.
VaismoradiMojtabaJonesJacquelineTurunenHanneleSnelgroveSherrill. 2016. “Theme Development in Qualitative Content Analysis and Thematic Analysis.” Journal of Nursing Education and Practice6 (5): 100–10. doi:10.5430/jnep.v6n5p100
96.
ValentineGill. 1996. “Children Should be Seen and Not Heard: The production and transgression of adults’ public space.” Urban Geography17 (3): 205–220. doi:10.2747/0272-3638.17.3.205.
97.
WardColinGolzenAnn. 1978. The Child in the City. New York: Architectural Press.
98.
WarrenMark R.KupscznkLuke Aubry. 2016. “The Emergence of a Youth Justice Movement in the United States.” In Contemporary Youth Activism: Advancing Social Justice in the United States, edited by ConnerJerushaRosenSonia M, 39–58. New York: Prager. doi:10.5040/9798400631511.ch-003.
99.
ZhangXueWarnerMildred E.XuChunWangYu. 2025. “Invisible Women in Comprehensive Plans.” Journal of Urban Affairs47 (7): 2452–70. doi:10.1080/07352166.2023.2282561.
