Paper short abstract:

How does immobility shape the everyday experiences and future life chances of youth in informal settlements? How does it further urban inequalities and marginalisation? We explore how youth mobility is restricted by urban violence, and how this affects social, political and economic participation.

Paper long abstract:

Mobility and immobility are key factors shaping the experiences and future life chances of young people in sub-Saharan Africa (Porter et al, 2010: 796). While cities offer opportunities for social mobility, we found that the fear of violence limits the physical mobility of already marginalized youth in informal settlements across Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe. This immobility inhibits urban citizenship by discouraging participation in social, political and economic life.

We found that insecurity affects movement within communities and when moving around the city, including when using public transport. Immobility is accentuated in certain spaces, as well as at certain times of the day. Yong people also commonly face violence at home, which results in few or no places of safety in their lives. Young women and girls were far more likely to feel unsafe in all spaces compared to young men.

Our findings include:

One in three young people feel unsafe in public spaces inside their community

Around 50% feel unsafe in public spaces outside their community

Around 50% feel unsafe on public transport and when waiting at public transport hubs

37% of youth avoid doing certain activities in their everyday life because they feel unsafe

Restrictions on everyday physical movement impacts the mental and physical wellbeing of young people and compounds their marginialisation.

To examine how young people experience and cope with urban violence, this paper uses a mixed methods approach. The data analysed includes more than 11,000 household survey responses and focus group interviews with hundreds of participants.