urban identity | community identity
a study of the grittiness and communities of urban areas
1. URBAN IDENTITY
identity in the urban form and dimensions
STREETS AS ECOLOGIES
Vikas Mehta explores the various urban dimensions of neighbourhoods and cities in America, discussing the social and ecological setting as a “sensorial art”. This work emphasizes the sense of place and place distinctiveness, design and visualization of urban places and activities, and cities and regions as just, equitable and sustainable living systems.
His observations between an Indian neighbourhood and an American neighbourhood is what particularly interested me. All his photos and observations were taken at the same area in a fixed time frame. During these obserations he was able to understand the intrinsic value of streets and why people gathered where they did.
transcript- an Indian neighbourhood as an ecology:
all kinds of activities take place on the street there are people walking driving hanging out, it’s a place to see and be seen it’s a place to socialize it’s a place to cook eat drink it’s a place to make things and mend them it’s a place to preach and pray it’s a place for playing, it’s a place for makeshift it’s a place for everything it is where the workings of the neighbourhood are visible. it’s where the neighbourhood ecology is visible and most interestingly there are systems and controls that are localized so everything doesn’t work from top-down controls that manage the street but these are systems that work through negotiation so there’s a whole lot of system that is evolving as the needs and desires change and the street works as this multiple sort of overlapping system of many things together economic political social travel the works.
transcript- why people gather in the places they do in an American neighbourhood:
a place for people to gather to meet and to share in fact share kind of intimate activities and of their family it was a place to relax it was a place to learn about social skills learn about cooperation learn about things about the city learn about nature just on this very short stretch. this was a place to exchange ideas and to engage and to understand your responsibilities and your duties as being a sort of a person who engages in the civic realm. this was a place to play even though the street was not designed as a play space the objects were that were on the street were used as objects for play for children. what we found was that this very very short stretch of the street worked as a social economic leisure and political space. interestingly the number of groups that use the street was very diverse there were people rich and poor there were mothers with infants and there were homeless they were vendors selling newspapers they were panhandlers they were young couples so on and so forth.
the three dimensions of an urban ecology (street):
- Fixed: physical elements that are about the design of the street but also importantly the composition of the businesses, so we found that independent businesses were particularly interested in this thing that we call the urban ecology that they were interested in people staying there hanging out in multiple sorts of activities and because they were vested in the industry itself.
- Floating: the most ambiguous and most open and hence most uncomfortable. this is composed of things that are in fact things that you cannot predict things that will easily move from one place to another place on demand and this is the dimension that we haven’t really addressed, or we are the most uncomfortable with.
- Fleeting: this is where things come in at a time and they completely transform the street. as you might know every city has wonderfully programmed events and if you imagine for a minute how the street changes during those events as you might see here it becomes a completely different transformed space lots of things can overlap lots of things are are which you don’t usually find next to each other occur next to each other.
A STUDY SCOPE: URBAN INFORMALITY + MESSY URBANISM
Urban informality aims to understand the idea of how relationships and interactions with urban developments shape the system.
The term “messy urbanism” is not a literal reflection of the word messy but is intended to describe the chaotic joy of randomness in these places that are a disorder from your stereotypical city.
We’ve lost sight of that, in our desire to achieve a mythical utopian state for cities where everything is perfectly in balance; where there’s no traffic; and where parking is free and easy. — Kevin Klinkenberg
exerpt from Messy Urbanism, a Messy Concept?, (A review of Messy Urbanism: Understanding the “Other” Cities of Asia, Manish Chalana and Jeffrey Hou), International Institute for Asian Studies, Hans Shneck
https://www.iias.asia/reviews/messy-urbanism-messy-concept
Messiness, notably with regard to housing and to labour relations and conditions includes, the editors write, urban informality. This clarifies the idea of messy urbanism, and its related urban messiness further. Chalana and Hou mention “premodern and informal neighbourhoods” (8) often in inner cities, such as the Beijing hutong; as well as hawkers and other traders and providers of urban services who tend to operate in central parts of cities. Informal neighbourhoods, argue the editors, are threatened by the current wave of modernisation (or is it now worldclassisation?) of Asian cities through bulldozers of costly land hungry developers, in order to be “refashioned by high-end neighbourhoods using hypermodern and global aesthetics” (11), of course without hawkers
exerpt from Why We Need Messy Cities?, Strong Towns, Kevin Klinkenberg
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/2/23/what-is-a-messy-city
The big issue most cities face is that we don’t let cities grow and change anymore, in the ways they naturally did before the 1930’s. We don’t let neighborhoods urbanize, as they historically did. The idea of by-right, urban development has largely vanished from the world of planning and development, even though it served us well for about 150 years. New York City was once a city of single-family homes, believe it or not. Your city probably was a territory, then a tenuous settlement, and then went through a period of constant reconstruction, change and growth.
Our ordinances and processes do not allow that anymore. Sure, there are changes that can be made if you have enough money and patience. But by and large most of our neighborhoods are frozen in place, because we value protecting single family homes, “proper middle-class” neighborhoods and easy parking more than anything else. The consequences of not allowing the natural order of change to happen are vast — lack of affordability (supply can’t keep up with demand), traffic congestion from far-flung locations (development is forced to the edges where it’s easier to build), damage to opportunity for the middle class (it’s not as easy to move to prosperous cities because of cost) and a vast, expensive infrastructure that cannot possibly be maintained.
we forgot what made a lot of the places that we most love. And that is — thousands of individuals or small groups or families building places, one building or two buildings or one small street at a time. In our effort to control everything with maximum efficiency, we’ve forgotten that none of our most-admired places were built by trying to plan for and solve every possible outcome.
GENTRIFICATION
exerpt from Onehunga: A suburb in flux, Tess Nicol https://www.metromag.co.nz/city-life/city-life-property/onehunga-auckland-rent-house-prices-gentrification
Gentrification is a nebulous term, commonly used as shorthand to mean too many wealthy white people moving into an area (and often used by wealthy white people who have themselves moved into an area but don’t want any more of their kind following behind and ruining the “authentic” vibe of their new neighbourhood). Coined by British economist Ruth Glass in the 1960s to describe the change felt in neighbourhoods where upper-class “gentry” moved into traditionally working-class suburbs in London, the term is so widely and inconsistently used today that it’s hard to nail down a consistent working definition.
2. ARCHITECTURAL IDENTITY
identity in structure and aesthetics
Onehunga, Auckland
Carnaby Street, London
3. COMMUNITY IDENTITY
investigating how communities come together and how they are represented
Karangahape Road, Auckland
K’ Road is a place of socialisation, of social-cultural inclusiveness and engagement, of creative meeting spaces, places and energies. It is a place for young and old, the unconventional, unexpected, and the challenging, and minorities, activists, thinkers, creators, makers, entrepreneurs — those who want to explore a new edge in the world.
— Jillian de Beer, Karangahape Road Strategic Plan, 2017.
Karangahape Road is the last space of belonging for people who don’t belong.
— Momoko Burgess and Ahila-Mei Ta’ala, OCT 2019
The 312 Hub,Onehunga
a place for community, change, creativity, and culture
“Paying homage to the infamous ‘312’ bus route that no longer exists, The 312 Hub pronounces its name as a daily ‘in your face’ reminder of its culturally rich, socially diverse (historically unfair) past times and its forever evolving socio-economic struggles of the ‘classes’ through change, creativity, community and culture.The 312 Hub aims to be a symbol of hope and ‘gentri-prevention’ to empower, equip and build the capabilities of the next generation to have a place on ‘the tables’ of decision making where young voices need to be heard.”
“The Hub is a safe space, we have some kids coming here who are going through a lot at home. This is something positive for them to do.” When Kian joined The Hub only a year ago he found that putting in some creative hours gave him a purpose in life. “It’s amazing to see other kids come here and find their purpose, too.”
Auckland Night Markets
Auckland Night Markets are in seven different locations across Auckland. Starting in Pakuranga in 2010, the Night Markets have steadily expanded and become a regular event in the local entertainment calendar. The markets are growing in popularity due to their appeal to all age groups. The markets are free, but make sure you bring a lot of spending money, as there is plenty of food, fashion, toys and lots of interesting sights and smells to tempt the senses!
It’s a great night out for the family, and the undercover location means it’s an all-weather event. The kids can experience food from other cultures, hear live music and watch performances. Buskers, magicians and dance troupes provide additional entertainment at some events.
Food is the big component, where you can sample cuisine from dozens of different cultures. There are of course the ethnic favourites like Thai and Chinese, and for those looking for something different there are some rare delicacies on offer from most regions of the world. But we won’t spoil the surprise!
There are now markets running from Tuesday to Sunday across Auckland. The concept involves strict food licencing through local councils, so each food stall is fully licenced, meaning hygiene and safe food is assured.
The atmosphere is alive with hundreds of people all meeting together to share food and family fun. Whether you are there to meet friends or with the family, it’s a great night out. The night markets are on rain or shine, so bring the family, bring your friends and bring your appetite for fun and food!
- auckland night makets
Te Atatu Peninsula Library + Community Centre
Wynwood Walls, Florida
The Wynwood Walls was conceived by the renowned community revitalizer and placemaker, the late Tony Goldman in 2009. He was looking for something big to transform the warehouse district of Wynwood, and he arrived at a simple idea: “Wynwood’s large stock of warehouse buildings, all with no windows, would be my giant canvases to bring to them the greatest street art ever seen in one place.” Starting with the 25th–26th Street complex of six separate buildings, his goal was to create a center where people could gravitate to and explore, and to develop the area’s pedestrian potential.
The Wynwood Walls became a major art statement with Tony’s commitment to graffiti and street art, a genre that he believed was under appreciated and not respected historically. He wanted to give the movement more attention and more respect: “By presenting it in a way that has not been done before, I was able to expose the public to something they had only seen peripherally.” In 2010, building on the momentum of the year before, Goldman Properties added 10 more artists to their roster of Walls. They opened the Wynwood Doors, Tony Goldman’s nod to traditional portrait galleries and expanded the mural program outside the Walls.
The Wynwood Walls has brought the world’s greatest artists working in the graffiti and street art genre to Miami. Jeffrey Deitch co-curated the first successful year of the project in 2009, collaborating with Tony before his appointment as museum director of MOCA Los Angeles. “We have strived for a diverse representation of both American and international artists that encompasses everything from the old school graffiti artists to the newest work being created around the world. The project has truly evolved into what my friend Jeffrey Deitch calls a Museum of the Streets,” Tony had summarized.
- wynwood walls
