Invisible in the city: there are no spaces for young people, and no one asks them what they are
If you are 15 and live in Sofia, the chances of having a place to spend your free time meaningfully are minimal. The sites are « for the small », the parks are without infrastructure, and the new open fitness is not for everyone. There are also no indoor places – centers where board games can be played, read, work with computers. No one asks the young people themselves what they want, and the result is a lack of identity for adolescents in the urban environment. And no, the children are not guilty.
Youth and violence: This miracle is not for three days and it won’t only pass
Organizations, various initiatives, including municipal ones, are trying through private donations and social entrepreneurship to implement successful models from other countries. An option to solve the problem is the idea of opening the school yards, which will become spaces for young people in a non -teaching time.
Young people also say there are no spaces for them, especially in bad weather. « My free time I often do not know how to spend, but when I can go out with friends, ride a bike and try to be productive in some way, » the 16-year-old Yavor, who most often visits the garden of St. Seven Saints in Sofia, told Dnevnik.
How the state sees spaces
There is no official data on whether there are and how many are these places. Dnevnik sent questions to the Sofia Municipality, but did not receive answers until the editorial end of the text.
To implement this measure, they must be used/designed:
- facilities and garden-park furniture with added functionality (for example, allowing use as sports appliances);
- modular garden-park elements with a wide range of possible configurations and functions;
- Conditions/places in accordance with the popular activities among this age (hec’s game, skateboarding, roller skate, Longboard, juggling, etc.).
Nobody asks the kids
« A child cannot receive the same gift for their third and for their 12th birthday, right?
According to her, except that there is no vision, no one asks the young people themselves what they need. « There are municipalities where there are projects where the voice of the young people can hear, but otherwise decisions are taken by the adults because of the idea that we are well aware, » she said
Yards as an alternative
Momchil Daskalov, Mayor of Serdika District (covers the « Fund Housing », « Banishora », « Filipovtsi », « Orlandovtsi » and the northern central parts of Sofia) says that the sites and spaces for youth are not among the priorities of the Sofia Municipality.
There are no places for these young people. There is no concept. And we, the adults, are the guilty.
Momchil DaskalovMayor of Serdika District
According to Daskalov, a solution to these problems can be found through the school so far. In its area are both schools, which will be pilot according to the project of the Sofia Municipality at the end of March from the Gray School – Modern Center of the Community – 59. The work on them will be the basis for the production of an architectural guide for sustainable and functional spaces, which is presented to all district administrations in Sofia.
The idea is to turn school yards into modern areas integrated into the training process, to combine the opportunity for recreation, sports, social interaction and outdoor training, as well as many green areas. « And most importantly, be open to the community, » says Daskalov.
He is also of the opinion that it is a good idea for decisions what are the spaces for young people to be made with the participation of the children themselves. That is why in Benkovski Quarter, after a discussion with local youth, there will soon be a separate space with a gazebo and a fence that will be painted and painted by the children themselves, « so that they can feel it and keep it. »
When we pay attention to the children and put them in the center of what is happening to them, there will be no problems with the « local ». They must be given alternatives.
Momchil DaskalovMayor of Serdika District
According to him, it should also be thought of the indoor spaces. Daskalov sees great potential in the community centers that stand empty.
It has not been a priority so far
The deputy mayor of the Lozenets metropolitan area Mihal Sotirov also reports that there are no spaces for the young people, but also that their separation has not been a priority so far. As a reason, it indicates the absence of both terrains and funding.
There are several projects in the Lozenets region. One is in the « Krustova Vada » quarter, where it is planned to make an outdoor fitness, a 3/3 basketball court (with one basket – white) and table tennis. In the Vitosha region, green spaces with picnics and gazebo are to be enhanced.
But we need a solution. How do these spaces look like? Whether we do a skate park, but it would not be suitable for all ages. There must also be areas for socialization
Michal Sotirov. Deputy Mayor of Lozenets District
« There must be a specific program with specific activities and design projects, » says Sotirov.
The good example
« The state has a lot of outdated thinking about how these spaces to look. Most of them are not in line with the needs of the children. But there is no policy – no municipal or state project can meet the needs for creating such a place, from a financial point of view, » says Deyan Yankov, the creator of the Community Center « The Sidewalk ».
He draws his inspiration from the Scandinavian countries, where there are places for music, sports, dances and martial arts in many spaces. Teens are involved in maintaining and creating them, and on the one hand, it is guaranteed not to destroy places, and on the other, adolescents are engaged in meaningful causes.
« The main value of the sidewalk is that it creates a community. It is a process that takes time. Our goal is to do as much as possible what teens make meaningful, » says Yankov.
According to him, the young people are very engaged when they are given the opportunity. « You can’t imagine how much » local « participated in our projects and how meaningful work they have done. The fact that adults are now blaming them shows how much they are not aware of what they need, » says Yankov.
