Abstract
The connection the Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa-New Zealand, have to the land is threatened by the effects of colonisation, urbanisation and other factors. In particular, many Māori suffer significant health and wellbeing inequalities compared to the non-Māori population. In an effort to reduce such inequalities, there is a growing consciousness of the need to better understand the cultural and place-specific determinants that affect the health and wellbeing of population groups in different environments. This article explores how environmental and cultural connections to land enable the development of place-specific and culturally-driven principles that promote the health and wellbeing of Māori populations. It argues that concepts of place, belonging, landscape and wellbeing play an important role in linking environment and culture as well as in contributing to creating therapeutic spatial environments that promote both human health and ecosystems. A set of principles is developed that allows for the landscape design of such therapeutic environments while accommodating the socio-cultural and environmental values that promote health and wellbeing of both Māori and non-Māori people.
Highlights
The Māori of Aotearoa-New Zealand contend that the relationship they have with the land shapes how the cultural, spiritual, emotional, physical and social wellbeing of people and communities is expressed
This article explores how environmental and culturalconnections to land enable the development of place-specific and culturally-driven frameworks that promote the health and wellbeing of specific populations in a given setting. It argues that concepts of place, belonging, landscape and wellbeing play an essential role in linking environment and culture as well as in contributing to therapeutic environments that promote both human health and ecosystems
Therapeutic environment regenerative design accords a discursive space for the mediation of conflicting concerns, but as it fails to develop this notion independently, we propose the integration of a cross-cultural knowledge model to the benefit of
Summary
The Māori of Aotearoa-New Zealand contend that the relationship they have with the land shapes how the cultural, spiritual, emotional, physical and social wellbeing of people and communities is expressed. Despite integration and urbanisation of Māori populations into a Westernised way of living [2], Aotearoa-New Zealand remains a victim of the ironclad powerhouse that is the Western government paradigm. This has led the Māori to suffer cultural and humanitarian injustices at the hands of British colonisation, many of which left lasting effects that still influence Aotearoa-New Zealand’s psyche [3,4,5]. Chief among these stand racial segregation, illegal confiscation of land, cultural disconnect and associated poor health. A substantial level of spiritual damage has been reported, contributing to the loss of rangatiratanga (self-determination) and control over Māori taonga
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