Forty high school students shared their visions for two West Oakland development projects before a panel of stakeholders - community leaders, educators, and planners - at Oakland City Hall in May 2004. The presentation was the culmination of 10 weeks' work with 15 U.C. Berkeley student mentors. The two proposals focused on (1) a new commercial space along 7th Street in West Oakland, and (2) a West Oakland Cultural History Project to honor the community's rich history, including social movements, identities, and culture.

The work is part of an innovative program called Y-PLAN (Youth - Plan, Learn, Act, Now!), an award winning collaborative between college students from U.C. Berkeley and local high schools in Oakland. High school students are introduced to the fundamentals of urban planning and design while working on real world planning projects. Youth learn to develop proposals, conduct surveys, map sites, prepare models, and develop budgets. Youth-PLAN has grown into a national model for engaging youth in their community's revitalization.

The program prepares young people as community change agents while building on core academic subjects. Youth learn the basics of how their neighborhoods operate and realize a range of personal, social, and academic benefits such as self-esteem, an appreciation for civic life and responsibilities. Economics and social studies come alive in the context of real world activities.

In previous years, students' projects included the Mandela Transit Village and a community garden. Y-PLAN has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 29 cities and 18 states as a vehicle for involving youth living in public housing to play an active role in the revitalization of their communities as part of the HOPE VI process.

"Involving youth in projects like these really helps to build a connection between the school and the community," said Deborah McKoy, "It's a connection that doesn't always exist. We are striving to draw input from youth for the redevelopment planning process, but it is a big challenge. Ideally, the community benefits from learning more about the needs of youth and the youth benefit from seeing change as a result of their participation in community revitalization efforts. The Y-PLAN is an outstanding example, because it accomplishes these complex objectives."

More resources from the Center for Cities & Schools

McKoy, Deborah L. and Jeffrey M. Vincent. 2007. "Engaging Schools in Urban Revitalization: The Y-PLAN (Youth - Plan, Learn, Act, Now!)," Journal of Planning Education & Research 26: 389-403.