ARTICLE Children and Planning: To What Extent Does the Scottish Town Planning System Facilitate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child? JENNY WOOD Abstract Children are often not given explicit attention in land use planning outside of allocating space for schools, parks and playgrounds. This is problematic as children both use and navigate beyond these settings, and findings from research on and with children report how they are frequently marginalized in society. This is partly affected by the way town planning systems treat children’s spatial needs and participation. Therefore, this article investigates whether and how the Scottish town planning system acknowledges children, particularly in light of the internationally recognized rights set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It uses critical discourse analysis of key Scottish planning policies, along with a survey of Scotland’s planning authorities to ascertain the extent to which children are provided for and participate in the system. It argues that children’s rights are not widely acknowledged or incorporated into town planning policy and practice, and suggests this must be addressed to achieve greater social justice and support Scotland’s commitments as a signatory of the UNCRC. Keywords: children’s rights; UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; community engagement; Scottish planning system; equality; critical discourse analysis Introduction Town planning influences the way communities are structured, and in so doing, can affect the diversity of users of a space. In Scotland, people aged 16 and below make up 17% of the population (General Register Office for Scotland, 2011) and thus constitute a significant minority group. To ensure social justice therefore, the planning system must acknowledge and account for how their needs may differ from the general population. Moreover, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC; UN, 1989) gives specific rights to people below age 18 (which the UK Government ratified in 1991). These include rights to: Jenny Wood, Institute for Social Policy, Economics, Real Estate and Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK. Email: jw247@hw.ac.uk Planning, Practice & Research, 2015 Vol. 30, No. 2, 139–159, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2015.1014222 q 2015 Taylor & Francis