Adolescents' favourite places: Redefining the boundaries between private and public space

This article examines favourite places of samples of adolescents living in the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Results from four separate but related studies are presented which relate the discursive geographies of youth to their leisure pursuits.Young people’s reasons for choosing places which make them feel good, and the sorts of leisure activities which they enjoy there, are examined in relation to theories of space as a cultural construct and international studies of place attachment and place experience. The analysis combines ethnographic and quantitative methods to explore the meanings of private and public space for youth. Goffman’s concepts of frontstage and backstage regions are used to explain the relationship between adolescents’ use of inside and outside space. Findings suggest that adolescent preferences for home, own bedroom, and places in the natural environment express ways of redefining the boundaries of private space as the practical embodiment of intergenerational power relationships.