The Voice of the Youth Thinking with young people: Transport experiences and aspirations in Sub -Saharan Africa and South Asia January 2019 The Voice of the Youth i Thinking with young people: Transport experiences and aspirations in Sub -Saharan Africa and South Asia. Edward Simpson and Niamh Collard Contributions from Ruth Simister, Liana Chase, Till Trojer , Michele Serafini, Imran Jamal, Jon Galton, Michael Stasik and Mustafa Khan. This research was funded by UKAID through the UK Department for International Development under the High Volume Transport Applied Research Programme, managed by IMC Worldwide. We are grateful to Colin Gourley at DFID and the network of researchers built around the European Research Council ROADS project (grant agreement 61639 3). The Voice of the Youth ii Fuel shortages can limit the transport choices people can make Regulation of road use should be tighter The future can sometimes be something difficult to imagine beyond the scope of immedi ate experience Transport costs and tickets should be well regulated Public transport can be a social space for meeting friends Planning regulations should be enforced and upheld to allow for traffic to circulate in the city Poor infrastructure limits use of public transport Social progress is measured in provision of public transport for the poor Ideas of transport can be linked to perceptions of corruption Rural/urban development is related to both transport and mobility Measures should be taken to discourage people from using private cars Personal safety is a major concern for young women using public transport Transport and aspiration are intimately entwined in young people’s experiences The Voice of the Youth 1 Sum mary This document is a ‘think piece’ about transport and young people in sub -Saharan Africa and South Asia. People who take decisions about transport planning and investment tend not to be young . By virtue of their positions in society, transport planners can neither really understand nor act on the aspirations and compulsions of young people without careful research that engages sensitively with young people . Young people are a significant demographic of future transport users. What they want for the future is what the future could become; or, if these ideas can be worked and reshaped then an alternative future could be brought into existence. Our approach to these questions is to understand the cultural frames in which young people think about themselves, each other and the future direction of travel of the world. We use an ‘anthropological’ f rame to understand these issues, taking seriously young people’s understandings of and engagement with their lives and the world . We briefly review key milestones in recent social science literature on the conditions of young people in these regions. This material shows how the period of ‘youth’ has been extended by the spread of tertiary education and mass unemployment, taking it far beyond the tradi tional rituals marking the distinction between childhood and young adulthood. The rituals marking this fundamental transition emphasised separation from the family and early ties of belonging and these ideas continue to be deeply significant in the decisio n-making and planning activities of young people in relation to transport and the future. The main body of the document is based on pilot conversations with 16 young people about their experience and use of transport, their own aspirations for the future a nd about the possible future of transport. These conversations show that ideas and practices of mobility are key in the daily routines of young people. Young people make decisions and calculations based on ‘transport rationale’ all the time. We do not know from the sample the whole range of factors that influence day -to-day decision making. In the longer -term, we can see that for young people ‘transport thinking’ relates to what kind of society people want to live in and who they will become as individuals. Mobility emerges as one of the key signifiers of independence and separation from the family, tradition and the pas sage to adulthood. We divide this material into a matrix of four tensions: progress and waiting; autonomy and dependency; mobility and immob ility and security and conflict. The material shows that young people’s decisions are not simply determined by ‘rational choice’ as understood in a ‘cost -benefit’ frame, although thi s is part of what they tell us. I nstead, short -term decisions are influe nc ed by factors such as safety and cost . In the longer term, however, factors such as aspiration and cultural ideas of what makes a good life and a whole person play much more strongly in determining how people behave both in the present and in anticipation of particular kind s of future. Finally, the methodology of this document is experimental. The fragments of our conversations suggest that there is a great deal more to understand about the ways in which young people situate themselves in relation to transp ort futures. The values, rituals and speculative ideas glimpsed in this tiny sample of voices open up fundamental questions about the future of transport which cannot be separated from the worlds of education, employment, development, families and what it means in different parts of the world to live a good life. The Voice of the Youth 2 Our approach We deploy an ‘anthropological’ approach to the questions of youth, transport use and futures. Anthropology is best understood in relation to its methods: lo ng -term ‘fieldwork’ which involves living and working with people, so -called ‘participant observation’. The aims are (a) to understand the world from other people’s points of view in terms of social systems, beliefs and culture and (b) in this instance to place these ideas within a broader context of national development, transport planning and technological uptake. This document takes a small sample of voices to show the rich potential of this (a) approach in the hope that future work can generate a suffic ient research base to interface strongly and innovatively with (b). How do the social sci ence s think about young people? Anthropological concerns including the discipline’s interest in rites of passage , the role that liminality and rupture play in shaping social experience, and questions of how rebellion and conflict are socially produced and controlled have all emerged through over a century of anthropological work with and writing about children and young people. A nthropology has develop ed theoretical and metho dological tools for understanding ad ulthood as a social achievement, rather than something self -evident or given. Looking at the transition to social adulthood in this way, young people’s lives are characterised by liminality, ruptu re and conflict, but also possibility, aspiration and hope. Four sets of tensions emerge that give shape to contemporary experiences of youth : Social science writing on youth looks at the particular economic, social and political discourses that have constituted ‘youth’ as a meaningful category in and of itself . The literature emphasises how globalisat ion , trans -national capital flows and legal frameworks (UN declaration of human rights and the rights o f the child etc) and mobility , as well as young people’s shifting horizons of expectation intersect wit h local contexts shape not only young people’s exp eriences, but also the place they hold within broader constellations of social value and concern. There is an attention to how the social category ‘child’, and its corollary ‘youth’, e merged from capitalist configurations of labour and time (Kapur, 2013: 2 7), as well as an understanding that aspirations and future imaginings which centre upon upward mobility and consumption , whilst alluring, re-inscribe social limits and boundaries (Kapur, 2012: 45). Put simply, youth is not simply something which is pre - ordained, but rather a social category that has been created and is rooted in historical, social, po litical and economic processes. Progress and waiting : young people’s experience (or not) of being able to achieve their goals and aspirations, both in the present, a nd over longer periods of time. Autonomy and dependency: you ng people’s capacity to live independently. =deas of autonomy and dependency are bound up with young people’s access to the resources they need to support themselves, as well as the freedom that enables them to create the kinds of lives and broader social structures that they envisage for themselves and their communities. Mobility and immobility: the transport infrastructures and opportunities which are available to young people, and which they need to access work, learning and social activities. Security and conflict: the degree to which young people are exposed to, or indeed involved in, violence and harassment of various kinds. It also refers both to the memory and fear of conflict, and the ways in which security concerns shape young people’s lived experience and expectations of the future. The Voice of the Youth 3 Progress , growth and development were probably once the key ideas that motivated young people’s action . For example, young, educated and lower middle -class men in India who, despite formal education find themse lves left, quite literally, waiting for salaried employment. Craig Jeffrey (2010) ta kes the local term ‘timepass’ , to show how the spread of education and the lack of employment opportunities (‘jobl ess growth’) mean that young people have nothing to do oth er than inhabit structured boredom. The ‘experience of abjection’ (Heffrey, 2010: 80) and, significantly, the seemingly indefinite deferral of power between young people to their elders , shape these experiences of waiting (Snellinger, 2018 74 -77). The changing relationship between urban and rural areas and the decline of the agricultural economy has led some commentators to describe the ‘death’ of the rural economy (Gupt a 2005) as villages become ‘waiting rooms’ (Parry 2003) for migrants heading for the worlds of industrial labour. Key here is the notion that mobility is essential as a way out of the countryside, even if mi grant’s families remain there. Gina Porter’s work has engaged with similar questions , looking at migration, technology and young people’s urban/rural mobilities in sub -Saharan African contexts (Porter et al, 2018; Porter, 2015) . The experience of stalled p rogress and a seemingly unattainable adulthood is linked to the tension we have identified in our speculative conversations between autonomy and dependence . Transitions to adulthood, reciprocity and material things Material things play an important part in social transitions to adulthood. The experience of unemployment amon gst young men in urban Ethiopia points not only to the importance of reciprocity in the social production of adulthood, but also to the ways in which this transition is bound up with the consumption and circulation of material things ( Mains, 2012). Timepass The notion of ‘timepass’ examines the experience of waiting for young, unemployed men in India whose aspirations for a better, or at least different, kind of future remain unfulfilled (Jeffrey, 2010) . Looking at the intersection between gender and class, Jeffrey engages with middle class anxieties about downward social mobility as a mea ns of understanding the volatile political power that young ‘waiting’ men hold. Waithood Alcinda Honwana ’s notion of ‘waithood’ refers to how traditional paths to adulthood in Africa have been eroded through conjoined processes of globalisation , urbanisation and modernisation (2012: 23). Bound up with the increasing importance of formal education, the degradation of social and material infr astructures and the failure of post -colonial governments to provide sustainable vocational opp ortunities, increasing numbers of young people in Africa are finding that, with social adulthood unattainable, they are trapped in a state of prolonged waithood, their aspirations for the future unfulfilled. The Voice of the Youth 4 Finding themselves dependent, the tension between the desire for mobility and their experiences of (often enforced) immobility underpins the possibilities open to young people, shaping aspirations and frustrations (Graw and Schielke, 2012; Gaibazzi, 2015; Parry 2005). There is thus a central tension and choice between ‘migration’ versus ‘staying put’ and the different forms of life these options represent. Related is the tension between security and conflict . Socially characterised as a period of liminality , youth can present challenges to the social order, with young people often (and often wrongly) cast as volatile and potentially violent. :owever, tending to occupy positions of ‘waithood’, immobility and dependence, young people themselves can be acutely vulnerable to insecurity. Conceptualised as ‘makers and breakers’ (:onwana and De Boeck, 2005), the experience of violence , and the search for security structure young people’s lives not only in conflict and post -conflict situations (Richards, 1996; De Sil va, 2005; Pells, 2009) but also in the ‘everyday’ (Pells and Morrow, 2017). This tension shapes how young people understand their futures and engage with transport. Understanding aspiration Aspirations influence choices and how ideas, promises and plans for the future are received and acted upon . Aspiration is not, however, a homogenous cultural value or faculty; it is an unevenly distributed social capacity (Appadurai, 2004) . These are not simply rational choices but are part of cultural value syst ems. Rather than individual decisions, aspirations are part of collective webs of endeavour that may find reflection in other shared ideas and values. While aspiration might have history in a particular place or culture, they also crucially influence the a ctions people take as they anticipate what the future might hold. Understanding what young people want helps to understand what they are working towards. Thinking about aspirations as part of a broader system of cultural values allows us to view them as a resource that can be understood and influenced. Directed at a ‘good life’, aspirations tend to be formed from more specific and local ideas about marriage, work, status, health, and progress, which often unarticulated, only emerge as singular expressions o f wants: for this house, that marriage, for a two -wheeler or a car, to be mobile, or to be somewhere else. On another level, the experimental conversations on which this document is based suggest that young people can see transport as a form of collective aspiration, with the choices that governments make about transport being indicative of societal aspirations. How does this relate to young people’s understandings of transport and the future? Aspirations can help us understand the value that young people p lace on transport in their imaginings of the future, but only if we link these understandings to a broader set of cultural impulses for mobility , security , progress and autonomy . What does an anthropology of young people, transport and the future bring to the High Volume Transport programme? • An intimate understanding of future transport demand, and the opportunity to plan in a way which accounts for young people’s current experience s and builds them into the future of mass transport plannin g; • The chance to plan HVT in ways which are non -normative. This initial study underlines the further work which would be needed to engage with children, and those who are otherwise excluded due to issues of gender, disability and lack of autonomy and acces s to resources; • The capacity to engage with new trends, and view transport and ideas of the future from the perspective of young people who have never known a world without digital technology. The Voice of the Youth 5 Methodology Experimental and pathfinding conversations with sixteen young people from across sub -Saharan Africa and South Asia allowed us to begin to explore ideas that could lead to the development of ‘young people -equitable’ transport infrastructure and practices. Conducted by eight researchers who have an intimate understanding of their field sites and established relationships with their interlocutors, the conversations sought to understand how the ways in which young people use transport intersect with their ideas, aspirations and fears for t he future. Six interviews were carried out with young people in sub -Saharan Africa (two each in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia) and eight were conducted in South Asia (four in Nepal, two in Bangladesh, two in Pakistan and two in India). These young peopl e do not obviously represent a ‘sample’, but a selected cohort whose lives we can meaningfully contextualise and whose experiences and observations we can rely on to understand what transport -in-context. Cognizant of the intersection between gender, transp ort experiences , and aspiration each researcher was asked to collect male and female voices; whilst this was not possible in all cases, there is an even gendered split in the material. Language Conversation in Sierra Leone, Ghana, India and one set of discussions from Nepal were conducted in English. The other pair of Nepali conversations took place almost entirely in Nepali, with additional explanations around questions relating to the future provided by the researcher to one interlocutor in English. T he Ethiopian conversations took place in Amharic, Tigrinya and English. Similarly, the Bangladesh conversat ions took place in both Bangla and English. The Voice of the Youth 6 Autonomy and dependence Dependence on faltering transport infrastructures and its k nock -on effects Dependence on faltering transport infrastructures has a negative impact on young people’s engagement with work, education and social activities. Specific transport problems varied by person and across contexts. Nonetheless, severe congestion, limited access to affordable transport, poorly maintained infrastructures and a lack of joined up transport planning, particularly in urban contexts, were recurring issues that limited young people’s opportunities and autonomy. Overall, w e were surprised at how important transport was in the lives of the people we spoke to and how carefully most of our interviewees had thought about transport and planning. What is the relationship between faltering transport infrastructures and young people’s ac cess to education, work and social activities? How does this relationship vary across contexts? Personal safety and young women’s autonomy Concerns about personal safety and shared transport have a significant impact on how young women organise their lives and negotiate public space. Transport choices are strongly influenced by the fear of sexual harassment and violence. Many organise their l ives so that they do not travel after dark, or on public transport deemed ‘dangerous ’. Y oung women who can afford it are paying more than their male counterparts to travel in safety; those without financial means face harassment and the threat of violence. Autonomy, personal transport and aspiration None of the sixteen interviewed owned their own mode of transport and just one had access, through social connect ions, to a motorbike. Half our interlocutors aspired to own their own car, motorbike or scooter. These aspirations were framed in terms of autonomy, safety, efficiency and learning and social opportunities, with the desire for consumption being a secondary factor. The status associated with personal transport was mentioned, but it was not the main driver behind these desires. Aisha (22, Freetown) said that getting a lift with someone who owned a car (her brother, uncle or a neighbour) was a more comfortable and cheaper way to get around the city than travelling okada [riding pillion on a motorbike] or using poda poda [shared minibuses]. For Berhanu (Mekelle, Ethiopia) however, the desire to own h is own car was strong. :e said “ After I graduate and work for a round five years I am sure I will buy a nice car, if God will. Having my own car is the most important thing for me personally. If I had my own car, I would be the only decision maker of my plans. ” If these aspirations materialise then the world looks set for a great rise in the number of vehicles on the road. Can low carbon and mass transit fulfil with these aspirations? If so, how? The Voice of the Youth 7 Sarita (25, Kathmandu) describes the anxiety associated with u sing shared microbuses, saying “When you are a girl and there are people around, even if their intentions are not that bad we assume in the microbus that they are trying to touch you or take ad vantage. You start th inking about these bad stories.” Anika (Dhaka) said that bad experiences on public busses were a major barrier for women travelling around the city, and that transport was particularly unsafe for women at night. What impact do personal safety concerns have on young women’s transport thinking ? Wh at mechanisms can be put in place to improve the experience of transport for women? Achieving transport autonomy through technology Young people in Accra, Dhaka and Mumbai described how ride -hail ing apps increased autonomy. Access to technology and the means to pay for it is, however, uneven across our limited sample. Technology as a form of access to transport can therefore also be a driver of inequality of a ccess rather than simply, as it is often casua lly assumed, a mechanism of democratisation. B (25, Accra) says he uses Uber “…when it is difficult to get a tro -tro [shared minibus used for journeys in the city], maybe because the time of the day, and when I want to feel comfortable sometime, like when =’m carrying some bags. Sometimes, where =’m going to requires walking some distance, and = don’t feel like walking, so = just use an Uber to drop me right at my destination. =t all goes down to the cost: Uber is less e xpensive [than a regular taxi].” How can new transport technologies be equitably harnessed? Public transport as a space of autonomy Personal safety notwithstanding, young women, and to a lesser extent their male counterparts, also experienced public transport as spaces of pleasure and freedom, where they could read, listen to music, meet and make friends, explore the city and have time to themselves. Sujata (21, Mumbai) spoke about her journey to university on public transport as a valuable opportunity to read and listen to music. For Anika (Dhaka), rickshaw journeys around the city offer her th e autonomy to explore the city and discover new areas at a comfortable pace. For Ali (Karachi), particular bus routes were associated with fond memories of travelling through the city , and he spoke about the bus as a space where he could have deep, philosophical thoughts whils t observing out the window how “ people interacted in a very Karachi way” . How can the pleasures of travel be harnessed in creating ‘youth equitable’ transport? The Voice of the Youth 8 Progress and waiting Progress and waiting were closely related to autonomy and dependency, and mobility and immobility. Whilst p ublic transport i s a public good and a sign of development , the obverse is also true A w ell run, efficient and accessible public transport system was valued by young people and seen as a sign of development and social progress. A number of young people explicitly said that government should take steps to limit personal vehicles, putting their focus on equitable public transport instead. Sa rita (25, Kathmandu) says that “ People are getting rich and they want more luxury in their life, so there will be more private cars.” This is not, however, a good thi ng from her perspective as it will lead to further congestion. For her, it’s the government’s responsibility to incentivise people to use public transport. The obverse of this was, however, that for many, the lack of decent public transport was synonymous with failures of development and the experience of abjection. For both Aisha (22, Freetown) and Alpha (23, Freetown) the most pressing issue was access to decent roads. Both of said that improved roads in their community and across the city would facilita te their use of public transportation, and broaden their access to educational and vocational opportunities. How can public transport sy stems be developed in ways that are synonymous with young people’s aspirations for progress and development? Social progress is conceptualised in terms of transport interconnectivity There is a close link between ideas of social progress and the extent of transport interconnectivity, particularly in terms of public transport and road infrastructure. Where young people saw the development of road and rail networks which might link them to other cities and regions, they equated this with social progress. To a lesser extent, the development of air travel, although out of financial reach of all our participants, was seen as a welcome sign of interconnectivity and social progress. Hana (Mekelle, Eth iopia) says “ I wish there would be minibuses every[where], reasonably close to our places. You know here in our town you don’t have options to get taxis. There is only one centre, so you are expected to go to this centre if you want to take a minibus. [Thi s means] you have to walk…or to take a contract bajaj [minibus that’s not shared] which is also expensive and not always practical. = imagine…a nice public bus and train system in Mekelle in the future like you see in other big cities or like the new train in Addis Adaba. For me, travelling by train and airplane are the ways of transportation in the future. But at the moment, = can’t even afford the tickets of Eth iopian Airlines with my salary.” Why is transport interconnectivity important for young people? What can be done to foster transport interconnectivity that is equitable and furthers social progress? The Voice of the Youth 9 Frus trations about a lack of opportunities and resources are linked to ideas about waiting Young people spoke of their frustrations about a lack of work and educational opportunities, as well as other resources, in terms of stalled progress and waiting. They a lso often explicitly linked waiting of this kind to the challenges of faltering transport infrastructures and immobility. In this, it is clear that for young people ideas of progress and waiting are bound up, although not synonymous with, experiences of mo bility and immobility. K (25, Accra) has recently completed her training as a physiotherapist, a nd she’s struggling to find work. She relies on tro -tros to ge t to the one private patient she has managed to find . K says “ A tro - tro will take more of your tim e. Sometimes it gets full early. But most times, you have to spend a lot of time waiting for people to board the car before it leaves.” The se delays mean K is often late for her work appointments. How does the relationship between progress/waiting and mobi lity/immobility shape young people’s engagement with and expectation of transport? How can transport planners harness this relationship to provide transport which delivers on young people’s expectations for progress and mobility? Poor transport infrastr uctures are emblematic of social abjection and waiting Related to the connection between a lack of opportunities and the experience of waiting, poor transport infrastructures are emblematic for young people of social abjection and their experiences of wait ing. The interconnectivity that young people associate with well -developed and accessible transport infrastructure often represents, at least partially, their sense of being included in the social order. :ana (Mekelle, Ethiopia) says “ Transport is always r elated to change. If you had a good transport access you can work anywhere, anytime, use your time efficiently, people can easily get an access to educatio n and reach health centers etc.” How can young people’s desires for social inclusion help us develop ‘young people equitable’ transport? The Voice of the Youth 10 Mobility and immobility Young people recognise mobility as a factor within their present dail y rationale and future thinking. They highligh t five main areas : Congestion and immobility in the city Our interlocutors saw the link between congestion and immobility : time spent in traffic came at the cost of educational, vocational and social opportunities. For Som (23, Bezibazaar, Nepal) congestion and poor roads meant not only that he disliked tra velling by public bus, but that he ’d also missed out on work opportunities because of travel delays. What alternatives are there to urban mobility? or What are the best alternatives to forms of transport that create congestion? Mobility and imagining a hopeful future Mobility features in how the majority of people we spoke to imagined a hopeful future. Whether it was in terms of the development of reliable transport infrastructures locally and at the national level, aspirations to migrate int ernationally or fantast ical plans for flying cars and “hyper loops ”, our interlocutors drew a clear link between achieving mobility and their aspirations for the future. Referring to Elon Musk ’s far speculative idea to connect cities via “hyper loops ”, Raj ( 24, Kathmandu) laughingly said “[=t’s] something about air pressure that would allow us to travel really fast, faster than an airplane. ” For Anika (Dhaka), her hopes for future mobility were more grounded, revolving around access to a scooter that would give her the autonomy she craves. One idea she was particularly taken by was the establishment of a scooter sharing service specifically for women. What can this link between mobility and aspiration tell us about young people? How can i deas of mobility be harnessed to equitably realise young people's aspirations? or How can aspirations be harnessed to influence the future direction and technology of mobility? Governments have obligations to facilitate and regulate mobility A number of the young people we spoke to said that they held their governments responsible for the facilitation and regulation of mobility. For young people then, h opes for improved transport infrastructures and access are thus closely bound up with legiti mate governance; where this falters, young people were apt to cite corruption and mismanagement as key issues. Talking about what the government could do to improve the transport in Kathmandu, Raj (24) proposed a “rapid transport system ”, that would see th e creation of dedicated bus lanes and minibuses being replaced by full -size buses across the city. Aisha (22, Freetown), however, said “=n Africa, we don ’t think of people ’s convenience, the only thing people think of is th e amount of money they can make. ”, highl ighting her feeling that profit and corruption trump equitable governance. Similarly, Alpha (23, Freetown) said that whilst he hopes the government would take a lead in the regulation of bus fares, the current system allows private companies to prof iteer at busy times of the year. How can national governments deliver on the transport aspirations of young people? The close relationship between development and mobility =nterviewees drew a clear connection between development and the facilitation of mobility, with cohesive, efficient, equitable and accessible transport infrastructures being seen as a sign of social The Voice of the Youth 11 progress. Development was thus largely framed in terms of the deliver y of specific kinds of transport infrastructure, such as roads and railways. Gautam (25, Mumbai) talked about the link between development and mobility in relation to rural road networks, saying “=f you see the rural area, there are heavy chances that roa ds are not well …So, if the transportation is not fast, roads are damaged, na ? So transportation speeds are very slow … Transportation [thus] is a major part of the development. ” For B (23, Accra), existing developmental disparities will have an impact on Gh ana ’s transport future trajectories: “For the world, = know they are already making progress on driverless cars and cars that run on water and electricity, so that is the future = see in the world … The main question for Ghana is whether the country will be ready and willing to adopt those new transport technologies. ” Why is development associated with transport infrastructure for young people? Why do some young people not know about infrastructure development? Which transport/safety/publicity campaigns reached and stayed with young people in particular contexts and why? (=m)mobility and rural/urban links Urban/rural linkages and experiences of immobility were important for a number of our participants. They identified a lack of opportunities for young people in rural communities and the under - development of rural infrastructure not only driving migration to urban centres, but also making it hard for those who had moved to cities to go back to their home regions. This was seen to hollow out rural areas whilst putting a strain on over -stretched and overcrowded urban infrastructure. The need to decentralise national economies, and the role that transport and other infrastructures had to play in this process, was a key question raised by Tania ( 24, Dhaka). She highlighted the fact that with educational and vocational opportunities focussed in the capital, and poor transport links to villages, young people from rural areas were forced to leave the ir homes in search of work and learning. Decentralisation of education, industry and employment opportunities across the country would, she thought, ease congestion in Dhaka whilst supporting the development of rural areas. For Tania, this was as much an i ssue of social equality and equitable development. How can transport planning contribute to equitable development across rural and urban contexts? How do young people feel about processes of urbanisation and how c an these thoughts and feelings inform tran sport planning? The Voice of the Youth 12 Security and conflict Young people’s concerns centred broadly upon their experiences and expectations of personal safety, road safety and transport accidents , and conflict and violence . Road safety and transport accidents Both young women and young men spoke of the considerable risks of accident and death that they felt were associated with transport use. Fears focused on the poor skills of taxi, bus and motorbike drivers, drunk driving, badly maintained roads, overcrowded minibuses, buses and trains and, in Ind ia and Bangladesh, accidents and death resulting from unsafe train and metro infrastructure in cities. Indeed, fears about road safety and transport accidents were voiced by twelve of the fourteen participants. Sujata (21, Mumbai) spoke about her fear of accidents whilst commuting to work on the city’s extensive rail network. She recounted two particularly alarming incidents she has personally experienced, the first when the train in front of hers slipped off the tracks and the second when she saw the body of a dead woman who had fallen from the open door of a train. 2000 people a year die whilst travelling on Mumbai’s railway network. How, in contexts of ineffective regulation and where infrastructure is under -developed, developing, or in need or investment, can the safety of transport users be not only protected, but also be made a legitimate priority by government s and other stakehold ers? Personal safety Personal safety was conceptualised in relation to the risk of harm posed by other people in public transport contexts. For more than half of the women interviewed, most of who were based in South Asia, the experience and fear of gender -based violence and h arassment played a very important role in how they engaged with transport. They actively modified their behaviour, clothing, schedules and transport choices to avoid unwanted sexual attention and violence. Pratyuksha (21, Kathmandu) remarked not only on he r experiences of unwanted male attention whilst using transport, but also the fact that since moving from her hometown to the capital she has changed her clothing, opting for looser, less fashionable garments, including a hoodie that she can use to cover h er face, in an attempt to limit her exposure to sexual harassment and violence. She also takes advantage of women -only areas of the bus, despite believing that social regulation of this kind should not absolve the perpetrators of gender -based violence from their responsibility to treat women with dignity. The link between transport experiences and sexual violence was not as strong amongst the female participants from sub -Saharan Africa. However, one woman recounted an incident when she was attacked by a kni fe-wielding man who was known to her when travelling alone one evening in her neighbourhood. This traumatic experience was coupled with a fear of walking around in poorly -lit areas of the city where she lives after dark. For young men, a limited degree of concern was expressed about theft and pickpocketing. How can the public transport which young women rely on for accessing work, learning and social resources be made safe for them? The Voice of the Youth 13 The environment The young people highlighted four broad sets of environmental questions : Where there is an awareness of climate change, young people might have other priorities Climate change awareness did not mean t hat it was necessarily a priority for young people . Other issues, such as ensuring they were mobile enough to secure uncertain livelihoods, could be far more pressing and immediate. Hana (Mekelle, Ethiopia) said “= know that transport affects the climate, but I have never been worried about this. My problem is not the climate, but the practical problem is lack of transportation. :ow am = going to worry about the future of climate change if = don’t even have a transport system that = can currently rely on?” What are the other factors which young people are prioritising over climate change? What can be done to address these factors? How might attention to the other priorities in young people’s lives impact climate change? Environmental concern is not limited to climate c hange Climate change is not something that makes sense to everyone Questions about climate change did not make sense to all of our interlocutors. This climate confusion also, importantly, appears not to be linked to e ducational attainment; one participant with a science degree did not understand or respond to the question of climate change. Why does climate change not make sense to some young people? What impact will this lack of understanding have on their transport choices and ideas of transport in the future? When climate change was something relevant to young people, their understandings were varied Half of the young people we spoke to were aware that transport was linked to changes in their environment. These understandings, however, were varied. Focus was given to - • the role that transport played in the production of air pollution; • the role that electric vehicles might play in limiting air pollution and climate change; • the relationship between the development of road infrastructure and cutting down trees; • transport as a driver of noise pollution, and related negative health consequences; • litter and the experience of uncollected refuse in urban settings. Talking about ‘climate change’ K (23, Accra) said “ =f it is very sunny and =’m going to pick a tro -tro , I feel disturbed by the heat…compared to a taxi, where you ride alone, in the tro -tro you are many and the heat is so much…Sometimes the tro -tros are so old and their engines are very dirty. They pollute the air with those black vapours. =t is not good. We shouldn’t b e inhaling so much [pollution].” What do these varied understandings of climate change tell us about y oung people’s experiences and priorities? What role can such insights play in the design and development of ‘youth -equitable’ transport infrastructures? The Voice of the Youth 14 Young people have concerns about their environment and transport that aren’ t related to climate change . A lack of metalled roads and drainage in Freetown, where our two Sie rra Leonean interlocutors lived, meant that during rainy season limited mobility serio usly impeded their everyday lives . What impact do other environmental concerns have on young people’s lives? How does awareness of these concerns aid the development of y outh equitable transport? Climate change, global emissions and fairness Vikram, (Islamkot, Pakistan) spoke about the relationship between climate change and global equity. He said that he believes Pakistan should take climate change seriously , and implement changes and make investment urgently to tackle the issue. However, he also believes that Pakistan’s emissions are dwarfed by those of w hat he termed ‘westernised countries’. For him, this meant the issue was a global one which demanded global solutions. How can climate change can be tackled fairly for those living in countries which have not historically contributed significantly to glob al emissions ? What impact can transport planning have on the issue of global equity in relation to climate change? The Voice of the Youth 15 Conclusion Whilst there was a degree of variation across contexts, broadly speaking the young people included were not from the most vulnerable or marginalised socio -economic backgrounds. None of the participants were totally without resources, be that the support of relatives, educational establishments or NGOs. However this access was not equally distributed, and some young people in our cohort had greater access to opportunities and support than others. Future work will need to prioritise understanding how differen tial access to social resources shapes young people’s understandings of transport and the future, as well as engaging with those who are excluded from access to public transport. An awareness of how issues of autonomy, disability, educational attainment an d class position relate to children and young people’s access to transport should underpin this work. This pilot study also raised important methodological questions about how we might best understand the relationship between young people’s transport expe riences, their aspirations and ideas of the future. Our interviews with sixteen young people across country contexts highlighted various questions, many of which are pressing but few of which were particularly surprising. What we learnt thus largely confir ms our existing understandings of the relationship between young people’s lives, aspiration and mobility. Given the urgent challenges, however, that transport planners face creating ‘youth equitable’ transport systems that are environmentally sustainable whilst also fulfilling the aspirations and future desires of young people, we would contend tha t sustained ethnographic work, predicated on participatory, mobile and visual methods, would be the most productive approach to understanding children and young people’s transport experiences and ideas of the future. Ethnography opens up spaces where through immersion in the lives and everyday practices of children, young people, their families and wider communities, new questions and approaches to thinking about transport and the future can emerge. Unlike interviews, which rely on a set of often pre dictable questions and which often result in the replication of predictable answers, ethnography foregrounds participation, lived experience and the joint creation of new kinds of questions and knowledge. The Voice of the Youth 16 Bibliography Appadurai, A. 2004, 'The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of Recogniti on', in Rao, V. and Walton, M. (eds.) Culture and Public Action , Palo Alto CA: Stanford University Press , pp 59 -84. Van Gennep, A. 1981 [1909]. Les Rites de Passage . Paris: Picard. Gluckman, M. 1954. Rituals of Rebellion in South -East Africa. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Gupta, D. 2005. ‘Whither the =ndian Village’, in Economic and Political Week ly, 40(8): 751 -758. Honwana, A. 2012. The Time of Youth - Work, Social Change and Politics in Africa. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Honwana, A. and F. De Boeck. 2005. Makers and Breakers - Children and Youth in Postcolonial Africa. Oxford: James Currey. Jeffrey, C. 2010. Timepass - Youth, Class, and the Politics of Waiting in India. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Kapur, J. 2013. The Politics of Time and Youth in Bra nd India - Bargaining with Capital. London: Anthem Press. Mains, D. 2012. Hope is Cut - Youth, Unemployment and the Future in Urban Ethiopia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Pells, K. 2009. “We've Got Used to the Genocide; =t's Daily Life That's the P roblem”, Peace Review , 21:3, 339 -346. Pells, K and V. Morrow. 2017. Children’s Experiences of Violence: Evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peri and Vietnam. Background paper. Ending Violence in Childhood Global Report 2017. New Delhi:Know Violence in Childhoo d. Porter, G., K. Hampshire, A. Abane, A. Munthali, E. Robson, A. Tanle, S. Owusu, A. De Lannoy and A. Bango . 2018. ‘Connecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub -Saharan Africa’ in Africa, 88(2): 404 -424. Porter, G. 2015. ‘ Mobilities in Rural Africa: New Connections, New Challenges ’ in Annals of the Ameri can Association of Geographers, 106(2): 434 -441. Richards, A. 1956. Chisungu - A girl’s initiation among the Bemba of Zambia. London: Tavistock Publications. Richards, P. 1996. Fighting for the Rainforest - War, Youth and Resources in Sierra Leone. Oxford: James Currey. De Silva, J. 2005. Globalization, Terror and the Shaming of the Nation - Constructing Local Masculinities in a Sri Lankan Village. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing. Snellinger, A. T. 2018. Making New Nepal - From Student Activism to Mainstream Politics. Seattle: University of Washington Press. Turner, V. 1967. The Forest of Symbols - Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. The Voice of the Youth 17 Appendix A “Voice of the Youth” and transport futures: Note to researchers The purpose of this research is to prepare a “think piece” exploring issues affecting young people and the future of transport in sub -Saharan Africa and South Asia. Youth is defined as 16 -25. Overall, the project will consider: The constraints and opportunities for developing “young people -equitable” transport infrastructure and services and promoting involvement of young people within decision -making processes. Specifically, and in order to reach this overall goal, the project will address: • Par ticular travel needs and transport patterns • Access to secondary and further education and employment • Interaction between mobile technology and travel needs of young people • Road safety for the youth and the implications this has for addressing transport se rvices • Future aspirations, desires What we would like from you For you to talk with young people you know well in your field sites about transport so as to be able to provide contextual and rich background material for each conversation. We would like th ree pages of text from each conversation. Half a page of this should provide contextual information on the person you spoke to (anonymised), much of this may already be known to you. The remaining space should be written in an ethnographic style, using vig nettes if these enhance the material of the respondents’ transport experiences, ideas and aspirations. Please also note that where ever possible it will help if you describe where the person lives and what the local transport scene is like, i.e. what is no rmal, innovative or considered old -fashioned. This will help us locate the “Voice of the Youth” within the local context. :ow might the voice of this youth differ from that of a neighbour? Contextual questions Researchers are asked to provide half a page o f contextual information, particularly insights into relative income level/class/education and age and gender. • Where do you live? • Are you studying/working/both/something else? • What does an average day look like for you? • What kinds of activities are you engaged with on an everyday basis? Main questions The following questions are indicative and do not all need to be asked. These questions should provide 2.5 pages of text with vignettes/preliminary analysis. These questions may not all apply – if so, pleas e explain why. Transport experiences • How do you get to work/school/elsewhere on a daily basis? Do you use transport to get there? If so, which kinds? The Voice of the Youth 18 • What kinds of transport do you use most often? Why? • How much time do you generally spend travelling each d ay? And how much time do you use using transport each day? How far do you have to go from your house to connect with your regular transport? • :ow do you feel whilst you’re travelling? And whilst you’re using transport? Why do you feel this way? Do you trave l alone? • How do you feel about the transport you use most often? Why do you feel like this? • Are there other forms of transport you use less often? What are they? What do you use them for? Why do you use them? How do they make you feel? Why? • What kinds of t hings does transport allow you to do? How do you feel about these things/activities? Can you describe your life if you didn’t have access to the transport you use? • Do you pay to use transport (regular/periodical)? If you do, how much do you pay? Does payin g for transport affect which kinds of transport you use? Or how often you use it? • What are the other factors which might influence which kinds of transport you use and how often you use it? (e.g. distance to transport stops, safety concerns, timetabling of transport, other social factors) • What are the positive/exciting associations you make with the transport you use on an everyday/ occasional basis? What about the negatives? Technology • Do you use mobile technology? Apps? • Are local forms of transport/ride s haring connected to the Apps you use? Which ones? How do you use them? Travel Safety • Do safety concerns affect the way you use transport? • Have you or any of your friends suffered from safety failure in relation to transport? • How is it possible to best inf orm people about transport safety? Transport futures • If you imagine your future, what kinds of transport do you imagine there? • If you imagine the future of your community/the place you live, what kinds of transport do you imagine there? • If you imagine the future of the world as a whole, what kinds of transport do you imagine? • In what ways are these three futures similar, and in what ways are they different? • If you think now about your own future, what role does transport play in it? And how does the role of transport in your imagined future compare to its role in your life today? • Do thoughts about transport relate to your hopes/desires/fears? If so, how? • Thinking about how you imagine your future, what kinds of transport do you think you’ll need to realise your hoped -for future plans? Do you have access to this transport? If not, can you imagine how you might get access to it? • Do you think transport is related to change? If so, why? If not, why not? • Do worry about climate change and transport? Doe s awareness of climate change affect the way you think about your future transport choices? Edward Simpson and Niamh Collard The Voice of the Youth 19 Appendix B Participant Information sheet This research is being undertaken by a team of researchers working at SOAS, University of London, who have been commissioned by IMC, a UK -based development consultancy, to find out about - • How young people use transport; • How young people feel transport in relation to their future. You have been asked to participate in th is research because we are interested in hearing about how you use transport in your everyday lives, and how you imagine transport in the future. The information you share with us will be used by the team at SOAS to write a short report which will then b e shared with IMC, to help them understand what young people think about transport. Any information you decide to share with us will be anonymised, removing your name and other personally identifiable details, so that those reading the final report will n ot be able to identify you individually. The researcher you’ll be speaking to will have a few questions relating to your thoughts about transport, and they’ll be interested in exploring and understanding your thoughts, feeling and experiences about transpo rt in your everyday life and in relation to your thoughts about the future. There are no right or wrong answers and please feel free to ask questions of your own. =f, once you’ve finished speaking with the researcher, you have further questions, do let the m know. Similarly, if once you’ve finished speaking with the researcher you decide you would not like to participate any further in the research, please let them know. Their contact details are - • [Note to researchers - please include your email address etc here!!] • Niamh Collard - Research Assistant, SOAS - nc32@soas.ac.uk You have the right to withdraw your participation at any point up until we publish our final report and share it with IMC on the 15th December 2019. Thank you for agreeing to participate i n this research, the experiences and thoughts you share with us will help the teams at SOAS and IMC understand how young people across the world feel about transport. The Voice of the Youth 20 Informed Consent • I have understood the Participant Information Sheet - YES [ ] NO [ ] • I have been given the opportunity to ask questions and have had them answered clearly and satisfactorily - YES [ ] NO [ ] • I understand that this research is being conducted by researchers at SOAS, on behalf of IMC, to understand young people’s thoughts on transport, and = agree to take part in this research YES [ ] NO [ ] • I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time up to the date of publi cation (15th December 2019) without giving a reason - YES [ ] NO [ ] • I understand that the information I share with the researcher will be kept confidential and any information about me will be anonymised before its inclusion in the final repor t- YES [ ] NO [ ] • I agree that the SOAS research team can retain the data I share with them in compliance with GDPR for use in future research project - YES [ ] NO [ ] Participant’s name: Date: Name of researcher: t