The largest group of people using the City of Adelaide are young people aged 15–24 years. They use the city for study, leisure, work, and, increasingly for young adults, as their preferred place to live.

Between August and November 2018, South Australia’s Commissioner for Children and Young People met with 130 young people between the ages of 12 and 22 to ask them what they thought would make the City of Adelaide a more youthful place.

They told her that a city which is connected, creative and confident will always be very attractive to young people from everyone. The report details the key recommendations/conclusions:

1. Connected Adelaide: For the City of Adelaide to be more connected young people want to see initiatives that promote the movement of young people throughout the city. They also wish to see more youth-oriented spaces activated across the CBD.

2. Creative Adelaide: As the Festival State, young people think it is time to give more prominence to arts-based events that feature young South Australians. The city should reflect the diversity and creativity of our population.

3. Confident Adelaide: Young people want a city that is confident, that invests in them, supports them to contribute to the vision, creates tangible ways to be engaged, builds trust and accountability, and gives them opportunities to thrive.

This report advocates for ways to include young people in the various conversations, consultations and surveys relating to building a city community, with the focus on the City of Adelaide’s future to ensure South Australia’s capital city is shaped in ways that ensures it remains attractive to young people and all that they bring.