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Engaging in More-than-Conservation in Multispecies Cities: A Study of One Central Park, Sydney

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thesis
posted on 2022-03-28, 03:14 authored by Harriet Tasmin Narwal
This thesis engages with how 'living walls' could play a role in familiarising urban human populations with multispecies cohabitation, contributing to an ethic of conviviality in cities. A bricolage approach, comprising semi-structured interviews, observation, participatory photography and review of grey literature, historical sources and ethology literature, has been used to develop a more-than-human geography of the East and West towers at One Central Park. One Central park is a privately owned, mixed-use, green infrastructure precinct in Sydney City with two residential buildings that are characterised by living walls filled with vertical gardens and planter boxes. Bringing more-than-human geography into close dialogue with approaches in the broader environmental humanities, this project looks to engage with the unequal experiences of dwelling in multispecies cities in the Anthropocene, and advocates for the practice of 'more-than-conservation' in the policy and planning of cities. Using a storied approach, this thesis focuses on three key themes: temporality, biocultural belonging, and multispecies conflicts. It argues that living walls provide a forced close proximity between human and nonhuman dwellers that, if coupled with facilitated engagements and thoughtful urban design, could provide opportunities to foster attentiveness to nonhumans, contributing to an ethic of conviviality among residents. If this coupling does not occur this kind of intervention may instead entrench existing dualisms, like that of nature/culture and wild/domestic, within the city

History

Table of Contents

1.Introduction -- 2. Background: conservation and dwelling in the city -- 3.Methods: a bricolage approach to more-than-human geography -- 4.Storying place I: A history of dwelling in Blackwattle Swamp Creek Valley and development in Chippendale, Sydney -- 5. Storying place II: making worlds at One Central Park -- 6. Storying place III: living walls and multispecies cities -- 7. Conclusion.

Notes

Bibliography: pages 66-73 Theoretical thesis.

Awarding Institution

Macquarie University

Degree Type

Thesis MRes

Degree

MRes, Macquarie University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography and Planning

Department, Centre or School

Department of Geography and Planning

Year of Award

2017

Principal Supervisor

Emily O'Gorman

Rights

Copyright Harriet Tasmin Narwal 2017 Copyright disclaimer: http://mq.edu.au/library/copyright

Language

English

Extent

1 online resource (viii, 92 pages)

Former Identifiers

mq:71439 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/1274357