Young Peoples’ Construction of DIY Dirt Jumps in Melbourne, Australia, Throughout the Covid-19 Lockdowns

Abstract

Access to public space is critically important for young people, providing key opportunities for self-expression, independence, identity development and relationship building. The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly affected how young people can engage with public spaces. In Melbourne, Australia, young people have experienced 262 days in lockdown, contributing to escalating anxiety and depression, social isolation, physical health impacts and increased exposure to family conflict and family violence. Throughout this time, there has been a proliferation of young people constructing DIY dirt jumps across Melbourne. This article analyses this unstructured production of public space, focusing on one case study and drawing from council responses. I suggest that through this practice, young people challenge adult interpretations of public space, intentionally or unintentionally, resisting adult control of public space at a time when young people have been denied opportunities for independence and autonomy.

Sustainable mountain bike trails

“…Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic afforded a unique insight into how these inner and outer factors can intersect and overlap, as we witnessed how the impact of enforcing widespread restrictions on mountain bikers (outer), in this case of movement, leads to the proliferation of unauthorised trail building (inner) (Primack and Terry, 2021;O'Keeffe, 2022), supporting the notion that mountain bikers a desire to ride certain types of trails and to create them where they don't currently exist. During the pandemic there was also a significant increase in the use of trails located in or close to urban areas (Tiessen, 2022;Smith et al, 2022), and while this may not have been driven by fully autonomous motives, locating trails close to where people live and work promotes wider sustainability by reducing vehicular travel to reach trails and increasing equity of access.…”

Fresh Understandings and Challenges for Youth Studies Research

“…Woodrow and Moore ( 2021 ) showed how the close of the “night-time economies” during the pandemic in Great Britain, impacted on the leisure of intersectionally disadvantaged young people who were subject to criminalisation, exclusion, and stigmatisation. Finally, in a powerful analysis, O’Keeffe ( 2022 ) revealed how young people in Melbourne, Australia, who experienced 262 days in lockdown, challenged adult and official (e.g. council) interpretations of the public space by building DIY dirt jumps across the city.…”