‘I’m big, you’re small. I’m right, you’re wrong’: the multiple P/politics of ‘being young’ in new Sustainable Communities

This paper addresses the multiple politics of being young in new Sustainable Communities in the UK, places which were designed and built to foster active participation and inclusiveness. It is in this context that we uncover a series of rules and regulations which inhibit young people’s participation in their communities. However, we also draw attention to young people’s everyday politics which is broader and deeper than formal structures of participation. Through in-depth ethnographic research we get closer to understanding what an everyday politics looks and feels like from a young person’s perspective. Sounds, sights and bodies all make up an everyday politics which is vital in the building and shaping of communities.