Designing ideal streetscapes with youth: Exploring transport values through participatory urban planning in Flanders

• Pre-adolescents prioritize walking, cycling, and safety in urban design. • Green spaces are valued for safety, aesthetics, and social interaction. • Meeting spaces support peer socialization, reflecting youth-focused urban needs. • Group designs reveal challenges in balancing competing urban priorities. • Youth insights align with principles of sustainable and inclusive urban planning. This research explores the transport-related values and priorities of pre-adolescents (aged 10–12) from socially vulnerable backgrounds through participatory urban planning workshops in Flanders, Belgium. Using a simple streetscape design tool, 16 individual and four group diagrams were analyzed to identify recurring themes in how pre-adolescents envision public spaces. The findings reveal a strong emphasis on slow and active mobility modes, particularly walking and cycling, alongside safety features such as green barriers and well-defined pedestrian zones, reflecting participants’ developmental needs for secure, accessible environments and their reliance on active modes. Participants consistently valued green spaces not only for safety and traffic calming but also for aesthetics and socialization, demonstrating an intuitive understanding of their multifunctional role. Social spaces, particularly benches and greenscapes, emerged as key elements supporting peer interaction and community engagement. Group designs highlighted challenges in balancing competing priorities, as participants struggled to integrate diverse elements into limited spaces, resulting in compromises that mirror real-world urban planning dilemmas. By emphasizing active mobility, safety, and inclusivity, participants’ designs align with principles of sustainable urban development. This study underscores the importance of engaging pre-adolescents in participatory processes, as their perspectives offer valuable insights for creating equitable, child-friendly environments that benefit all users. The results highlight the need for structured guidance to help youth navigate complex planning decisions and advocate for policies that incorporate their voices to shape more inclusive and sustainable cities.