The people

As I carry out my research for Major Design, I'm pretty much stuck on the question of "so, what programme does Aranui require that a landscape architect can offer?" It's easy to strike Aranui off as the "dirtiest part of Christchurch", a place where no one wants to be in, a place striken with violence and gangs; typical perceptions that society in general create of low socio-economic areas which often tend to have a strong ethnic/cultural presence too. Yet, from my own experience and from listening to the community, I see Aranui as a gem? The community is strong and resilient - thanks be to God and the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 to show the true strength of this community - and there is an obvious neighbourhood-ly spirit amongst the community. I can think of some other areas in Christchurch where there is no community but just economical focuses. And, looking at the geographical location of Aranui, it really isn't a bad place to live in - it's close to the city, it's connected via two public buses, it's in close proximity to so many recreational areas, it frankly is quite baffling to see how Aranui has been so disregarded? The more I think about it, the more I am excited for the opportunities that Aranui has to offer! Yet, the same question rings out in my head; so, what exactly does Aranui then need?

Looking to Google for wisdom, I've chanced across this article which I thought was really important to ground myself in. Despite the well-intentions of Harvard's Business Review to find the best way to provide affordable housing to the lower-income groups around the world, the whole project was flawed to begin with by lacking in one small but significant detail: "But one expert has been left out of the competition, even though her input would have saved much time and effort for those involved in conceiving the house: the person who is supposed to live in it."

And that points me back to Simon Swaffield's and Roy Montgomery's lectures of expert-based planning and community-based planning. How is it that we somehow elevate ourselves to be know-it-all experts when we aren't even the ones living in that space daily? As I continue with this project, I know my biggest challenge is my need to actually be contacting the community, because they would be the ones who are able to tell me where the issues are at. Hmm, I guess I'll need to craft that email out to Miss Fonotia again, and hopefully contact the marae too because it'll be interesting to see from a culturally-strong perspective what Aranui holds.

"What drew me to VPUU’s work was the citizen involvement, even in determining what the project would be. They didn’t come in with an answer — they didn’t even know what the question was when they came in. But they spent years finding out what issue needed a response and then came up with plans that were developed step by step with the community. They spent years designing what the intervention should be and then getting design professionals involved to implement it. That’s the kind of idea that I think should get mainstreamed. It’s not about proposing a project and getting feedback from the public about whether they like it or not. It’s getting people involved in what a project should be, or if there should be a project."
Gary Hustwit, 2011
(Source: http://urbanomnibus.net/2011/09/gary-hustwits-urbanized/)

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