The unheard voices of youth in urban planning: using social capital as a theoretical lens in Sunshine Coast,Australia

Despite the imperative that youth voices should contribute to shaping their future world, there is limited evidence of youth agency and participation which articulates their unique experience of community in urban planning decision-making. This study uses the lens of social capital to compare perspectives of community between young people aged 15–17 years and adults in a suburban community on the Sunshine Coast, South East Queensland, Australia. The results, derived from both quantitative and qualitative methods, illustrate the different experiences of community between youth and adults and suggest how urban planners and decision-makers can incorporate youth-friendly responses to address issues of power inequality between youth and adult residents and mechanisms to engage adult residents through collaborative governance approaches.