Switzerland lacks "third places" There are many public spaces - but not for young people

Everyone needs a neutral "third place" outside of home and work where they can hang out and exchange ideas. Young people are often forgotten. Yet they need it most of all.

On Sechseläutenplatz in the city of Zurich, a group of young people are sitting on the steps in front of the opera house. They are listening to music, chatting with each other and eating a packet of potato chips. A few steps further down are two young girls, one of whom is applying lip gloss. They appear to be no older than 14.

Sechseläutenplatz in front of the opera house in Zurich is a popular meeting place for young and old. In general, public spaces are becoming increasingly important for society. There are several reasons for this. Among other things: With urban densification, public spaces are becoming important equalizing areas for the population. They act as central places for encounters and exchanges between different population groups.

Places like Sechseläutenplatz are also known as a "third place". The German Future Institute defines the term as "spaces for encounters": these can be public spaces in the city, but also semi-public places such as train stations, educational institutions, sports or cultural venues. And everyone needs a third place like this.

Important for democracy and civil society

The third place concept was originally developed by the American sociologist Ray Oldenburg. This is what he called places outside the traditional areas of life, such as the home and the workplace. He was referring to churches, cafés, libraries and parks. According to Oldenburg, these third places are important for civil society and democracy.

In these places, people exchange ideas on neutral ground. They create a sense of community and a public sphere. Even the ancient Greeks considered the agora, the marketplace, to be the birthplace of democracy. The forum was at least as important to the Romans: this is where citizens met to exchange ideas and where the tribunes of the people held their speeches.

But public spaces can also be zones of conflict. Especially between housing and living: Residents feel that their peace and quiet is disturbed by noise or littering. Young people are a major focus here. It is not uncommon for demands to be made to ban young people from certain places. Yet it is the young people who struggle to find a neutral third place.

"If we're there outside of opening hours, the pensioners complain"

Linus* is 16 years old. He grew up in a small community in the canton of Aargau. Football is his passion. That's why he spends a lot of time on the "red pitch", a football pitch near the school. He can stay there as long as the pitch is open. Because it has opening hours. "If we're there outside of opening hours, the pensioners complain," Linus tells blue News.

There's not much else for young people in the village. "Some hang out at the station," says Linus. He meets up with his friends on some bench in the village or at someone's house. "When I think about it, there's very little on offer." He used to visit the youth club in the village from time to time, but: "It's only for primary school pupils. We older ones are not allowed to go there."

He doesn't think that's a bad thing now. Young people would like a place that is not so "crowded".

Marco Bezjak describes it in a similar way to Linus. He is a youth worker and president of Mojuga, a foundation for the promotion of children and young people. He often hears from young people that they don't want to disturb others, but that they don't want to be disturbed either. In his work, Bezjak finds that young people are a thorn in the side of many adults: "In many cases, the mere presence of a group of young people is enough to make adults feel disturbed." Young people are the only ones who are dependent on public spaces due to a lack of their own rooms.

The concerns of young people are hardly taken into account

"But their concerns are hardly taken into account in spatial planning." Instead, those responsible for planning focus on peace, order and the question of how the infrastructure can be cleaned and maintained as easily as possible.

Requirements for the ideal space for the teenagers: "Covered, well-lit places, ideally with some seating and electricity nearby, as well as in the vicinity of a grocery store," says Bezjak.

But it's not quite that simple. "Our experience shows that young people don't allow themselves to be allocated spaces, they take them for themselves. Their meeting places can't be planned, their behavior changes quickly. All it takes is the opening of a petrol station store to throw familiar patterns of movement out of kilter."

Cities do not create spaces for specific target groups or uses

This is also confirmed by Tom Steiner, Managing Director of the Zentrum öffentlicher Raum (Zora): "The needs of young people are changing rapidly and uses are also shifting dynamically from place to place." This is why young people are rarely taken into account when planning and designing public spaces.

This is also the reason why cities design their public spaces less for specific target groups or uses. "They create spaces of opportunity that, at best, are attractive for appropriation by very different target groups," explains Steiner.

The implementation deadlines are generally too long for the participatory inclusion of young people in the relevant planning processes. However, Steiner emphasizes: "Nevertheless, the needs and living environment expertise should be taken into account in planning."

The Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE) also explains that it is easier to involve children and senior citizens in the participatory planning process. This is because they are more involved in the matter or the schools are involved in the process from the outset. With teenagers, this is only possible with specific methods. For example, if youth work is involved right from the start.

Marco Bezjak also emphasizes the importance of youth work in this process: "For this kind of use to work, you need continuous, professionally managed and officially commissioned open youth work that can be effective over many years."

Mobile meeting points as a solution

In cooperation with the authorities - and if the necessary funds are available - such youth work will make a suitable selection of areas that can be used temporarily. And provide mobile equipment such as benches, litter garbage cans, fire pits and shelters.

Bezjak has already experienced this a few times: "We are allowed to work with municipalities in which young people suggest possible locations for a construction trailer or a pavilion. The municipality then checks whether a mobile clique room is possible."

Ideally, however, municipalities would deliberately keep several areas free for young people that are not intended for a specific use, but can be freely designed and used flexibly by young people.