Participatory Photo Mapping to Understand Youths’ Experiences in a Public Housing Neighborhood Preparing for Redevelopment

Many public housing communities are undergoing redevelopment into mixed-income communities, with researchers raising concerns that the redevelopment process may reinforce exclusionary practices and inadequately involve residents in the planning process. These concerns highlight the need to better understand residents’ views of public housing communities and the redevelopment process. To fill this gap, we elicited a detailed view of youths’ lived experiences within a Boston, Massachusetts, housing development preparing to undergo conversion into a mixed-income community. Using participatory photo mapping and interviews, we partnered with youth co-researchers in an assessment of important community spaces and neighborhood strengths and stressors. Results highlight neighborhood strengths such as social cohesion and stressors such as gun violence. Results also elucidate youths’ wishes for the redevelopment, including the creation of formal and informal youth-centered spaces. We discuss implications for policy and practice and consider youths’ suggestions in the context of current community development approaches.