Adolescent girls as local active citizens: Developing a sense of belonging to local parks through ‘walk and talk’ and navigating local gender politics

Abstract

Parks offer opportunities for adolescent girls to be physically active, yet many are excluded from these spaces, particularly those who are affected by intersecting inequalities. This paper draws from six focus groups with 33 adolescent girls in Bradford, United Kingdom, to explore the relationship between their sense of belonging in their local parks and their engagement with physical activity (PA) in these spaces. Drawing on Yuval-Davis’ sociological understanding of citizenship, we highlight local parks as a symbol of belonging to their local communities, and ‘walk and talk’ as a form of local park-based PA practice that also enhances their sense of belonging (citizenship) to their local communities while also reducing stress. Male domination of local parks is perceived as a barrier to use these spaces for PA, which is also influenced by high level deprivation. As a response, many develop experiential knowledge and strategies that demonstrate their local active citizenship. Moving forward, we call for a combined strategy to leverage local parks for adolescent girls affected by intersecting inequalities to do PA: first, a better park and city design that is attuned to their walking experiences and safety, and; second, re-investment in youth organisations to support their development of citizenship competencies through local park-based PA interventions.