Culturally inclusive water urban design: a critical history of hydrosocial infrastructures in Southern Sydney, Australia

Taylor Coyne,Veljko Prodanovic,David Reid,Maria De Lourdes Melo Zurita

doi:10.2166/bgs.2020.017

Abstract

Abstract Historic relationships between communities and waterscapes are complex and often explained solely in technical terms. There is a key need to understand how human-centered developments have shifted the use of river spaces over time, and how these changes reflect on the values of rivers and surrounding cultures. In this paper, we develop a critical analysis of the historically changing relationship between urban communities and water infrastructures using the Georges River catchment in Sydney, Australia. Our focus was on bringing together past and current perspectives, engaging with the formation of diverse hydrosocial behaviors entangled with water infrastructures. Using post-settlement historical documents, maps, journals, and newspaper articles, we trace shifts in hydrosocial perspectives over time, mapping six distinct historic phases. In our study, we offer a shift from the main paradigms currently influencing the development of urban water infrastructures, moving away from the dominant technical propositions of systems designed purely for the management and treatment of stormwater. Drawing on our analysis, we propose a new urban water design concept: Culturally Inclusive Water Urban Design (CIWUD). This presents an advancement on current framework to include a consideration of people's connections and uses of urban waterscapes, as well as a shift towards democratic space design.

Highlights

Like many cities around the world, the city of Sydney was chosen during colonial ventures in part because of its hydrological features – a deep harbour and access to freshwater (Cathcart 2009; Goodall & Cadzow 2009; Karskens 2009)
Understanding the history of cultural beliefs and practices and the technological developments of rivers in juxtaposition presents a relevant framework for the ways in which Culturally Inclusive Water Urban Design (CIWUD) could be better integrated to urban planning
This work suggests the development of a new urban water design concept to promote democratic futures for waterscape

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Like many cities around the world, the city of Sydney was chosen during colonial ventures in part because of its hydrological features – a deep harbour and access to freshwater (Cathcart 2009; Goodall & Cadzow 2009; Karskens 2009). Understanding the history of cultural beliefs and practices and the technological developments of rivers in juxtaposition presents a relevant framework for the ways in which Culturally Inclusive Water Urban Design (CIWUD) could be better integrated to urban planning To further this point, this work suggests the development of a new urban water design concept (based on current WSUD approach) to promote democratic futures for waterscape. Following the work of Brown et al (2008) we adopted the ‘urban water transitions framework’ to contextualise the hydrosocial history of the Georges River through its various phases Central to this framework is the acknowledgement that the social and ecological histories of a place greatly influence the ways that management paradigms transition through time, and through ideas and technology Means acknowledging the continuous and enduring knowledges of the First Nations peoples who have maintained these lands and waters for thousands of years (Attenbrow 2002; Pascoe 2014; Irish 2017; Moggridge et al 2019; Foley & Read 2020)

METHODOLOGY

CONCLUSION