In Zimbabwe I worked with the Southern
African Development Community. This included research on culturally and environmentally
sustainable economic development strategies. In the U.K.,
I worked on affordable and emergency housing, and in the US on community
and strategic planning, and public safety. I have completed additional research
in countries including Egypt,
Kenya, Mexico and Jamaica
and am currently working on a project with the First Nations peoples in Vancouver, Canada.
My interest in Human Rights and Social
Justice has evolved throughout all these experiences and, more recently, with
the Australian Indigenous community. Since arriving in Australia in 1999, I have worked on various
Aboriginal research projects and consultancies in Sydney. As a result of my work with the
Aboriginal Housing Company, the Community Social Plan won national and
international awards and set the agenda for the Pemulwuy Redevelopment Project.
The Plan outlined a grassroots response to
the magnitude of the physical and social degeneration on the Block, the severe
stress and social disadvantage experienced by the Aboriginal residents, and the
continued inaction on the part of relevant government bodies and institutions.
The plan has guided and facilitated the AHC’s commitment to generating new sustainable
housing options for the Redfern Aboriginal community and rebuilding a spirit
and sense of community for current and future residents.
I am currently working on my PhD thesis at
the Faculty of Architecture, University
of Sydney looking at
Indigenous planning and sustainable futures for Aboriginal community
development. The Block is my case study. Through stories and storytelling,
through listening and learning, my research on this Aboriginal community will directly
reflect the experience and insights of the community and is not research about
Indigenous planning but is research from an Indigenous perspective.
My background ethnicity as part Black
American and Native North American Indian has enriched my research on
Australian Aboriginal issues as we share similar cultural values and belief systems
in respect to the land, community structure and social behaviour, as well as
similar characteristics – historically and politically. The work in relation to
The block has also enriched and deepened my research experience.
Today we are in the midst of a powerful
shattering of our beliefs that mainstream ways of knowledge are the ways for planning
and structuring Aboriginal society. Currently, significant questions are raised
for Indigenous communities who are not only beginning to fight back against the
invasion of their communities by mainstream planning policies and political
agendas, but are beginning to think about and create their own legitimate
planning agenda, and carry out sustainable development from an Aboriginal
perspective and ‘ways of knowing’. I am proud of being part of this grassroots Aboriginal
planning process, which not only gives Aboriginal people a voice but maps the
path to truer self-determination, governance, capacity building and leadership.
The University of Sydney
has made contributions in design for the Pemulwuy Project and has also
researched the actual housing needs of Aboriginal people in Redfern. A recent
survey conducted by me and Col James
(IB Fell Housing Research Centre, USYD) reveals that out of 40 Aboriginal people
interviewed so far, 100% wished to live in the new development on the Block.
The people interviewed lived and worked or studied in and around Redfern.
Aboriginal people expressed a desire to live
here for a variety of reasons. It is close to transport, the city and to
Aboriginal services such as Aboriginal Medical Services. People are near their mobs,
their Aboriginal extended families; they feel a strong sense of place, a sense
of community and of “home” here on The Block.
The survey also showed that there was a mix
of housing needs. Not only was there a demand for 3 & 4 bedroom homes
required, but also 2 bedroom dwellings. Out of the 40 surveyed, 29% required 2 bedroom
Units. The remaining 71% required 3 & 4 bedroom homes for their families,
extended families and visitors. Further the majority of interviewees (79%)
expressed the wish to purchase their own homes. Although many believed that
this was an impossibility due to their current financial situation, they would
be happy to rent until their financial situation improved. The preferred
housing option for people was equally split between ground floor single-level
dwelling and ground and upper floors -2 storey terrace-style dwelling. Half the
people requiring 2 bedroom dwellings wanted to live in the upper floor single
level units.
Some of the things Aboriginal people
preferred most about a new home included a yard for kids and a garden or an
outdoor area like a balcony or courtyard. They preferred open space or open
plan design, large rooms and large kitchen, natural ventilation and natural
sunlight. They want to be able to interact with their neighbours, and to live
in a safe and secure area. Affordability was important as well as pride in
being a homeowner.
Many surveys and community views, needs and
values normally are given lip-service by government and inaction is the norm.
However, it is time the community makes a stand and demand that their views are
heard. The Pemulwuy Project is a great opportunity to stabilise a community
which has been in turmoil and to create social cohesion. It is a great
opportunity to give Aboriginal people a stable home environment and foundation to
achieve better education and health, to find employment and to build economic
capacity. It can only achieve positive results for all the Redfern community,
both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
We as students, planners and architects,
politicians and policymakers, face the challenge of how to plan for sustainable
and healthy Aboriginal communities. In order to do that, we first must ask
Aboriginal people want they want. The solutions lie in Aboriginal knowledge
systems – the perceptions, experiences and traditional wisdom of how this urban
Indigenous community want their environment planned, their houses designed, and
their future defined.
So let’s continue to support the Pemulwuy
Redevelopment Project and make it happen for us and for the next generation of
Aboriginal children!
Mutang yenmabangoon darraburra! (strength walking
together today)
[South Sydney Herald July 2006]