Growing up in the new New York: youth space, citizenship, and community change in a hyperglobal city

We describe a participatory-action research program through which a group of young people in Jackson Heights, Queens, navigates an emergent youth geography defined by the shifting patterns and dynamics of immigration as well as by ongoing processes of adultification, neglect, and active exclusion. In this terrain, space, place and citizenship are intertwined in new and complex ways, especially for young people who are in the process of forming their identity as individuals and citizens. Through their work and actions in place, they demonstrate that, even in an environment where public space has been significantly eroded, place not only can continue to be central to the lives of young people, but also can provide the locus for an expanded citizenship.