This thesis aims to develop a participatory method with children that allows them to organically share their experiences of the built environment, for urban planning bodies to utilise and integrate children’s localised knowledge and expertise in their work. The method development was conducted for Malmö’s Planning Office (SBK), who highlight a lack of qualitative data on children’s use of space and experiences of their built environment, preventing the proper fulfilment of children’s needs in their planning work. Using SBK’s requirements, three framing principles based on existing literature on children’s participation in planning - namely accountability and transparency, agency and sustainability - , Third-Generation CPTED’s liveability principle and existing best practice examples and case studies, a tangible participatory method consisting of two techniques was developed.

The method, which was tested twice, starts with a mental mapping technique to gain an initial understanding of children’s use of space and which locations in the neighbourhood are important to them. From the locations included in the children’s mental maps, a limited number are selected to conduct a Gåtur, i.e. a walk through the neighbourhood during which the children answer a set questionnaire at each location. With the data collected from the mental mapping and the Gåtur, the children can design a malmöinitaitiv or make a formal complaint to impact their neighbourhood. Hereby, the method not only allows planning practitioners to gain a detailed understanding of children’s local knowledge that can be directly utilised in their work, but it also develops the democratic capabilities of the children as they are taught to advocate for themselves through existing channels of participation. It also demonstrates that including children in planning does not have to be complex, highlighting the importance of adapting existing planning processes to children’s communication culture, capabilities and agency in order to lower the threshold for participation.