Walking with Youth in Los Platanitos: Learning Mobilities, Youth Inclusion, and Co-production in International Planning Studios

Abstract

This article examines the role of mobile spaces to foster trans-disciplinary learning in international planning studios. Drawing from Indigenous ontologies and critical pedagogy, we suggest that walking and learning together between students and partners is critical to situated understandings of power and co-production of knowledge. We reflect on two years of studio courses in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to illustrate three different modalities of walking-learning spaces, each of which have different learning outcomes for students and youth participants. We find that mobile “third” spaces enable students to traverse social, geographic, and epistemological boundaries, while allowing youth’s planning priorities to emerge.