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Conference
2006
Plants as infrastructure
Abstract:
The
aesthetics of waterway naturalisation: Post Occupancy Evaluation
of the Waterways and Wetlands Asset Management Strategy in Christchurch,
New Zealand
JOBY
BARHAM
The naturalisation of
Christchurch's waterways is restoring ecological diversity and creating
a new aesthetic. However, a conflict has developed with more conservative
residents. As can be seen from a review of Letters to the Editor
of the Press, some members of the public cling dearly to the English
heritage aesthetic that has historically shaped the form of waterways.
Other residents believe that the landscape of Christchurch should
reflect the buried natural heritage. The solution is emerging as
a blend of various ideals that are contributing to a new complex
aesthetic.
This paper undertakes
a critical review of Christchurch City Council's Waterways and Wetlands
Asset Management Strategy (1999) and its contribution to the aesthetic
of natural infrastructure in Christchurch City. Waterways naturalisation
is creating a unique form that reflects a variety of residents'
ideals. But are these locations also battlefields where guerrilla
plantings of exotics infiltrate the 'native only' plantings of the
Council?
Conflicts over the 'look'
of ecological restoration are not new. Nassauer (1995) highlights
that people often have mixed responses to the design of ecological
restoration. Culturally familiar aesthetic models can be used to
mitigate negative responses. In parallel to analysis of the Strategy,
the paper discusses the potential use of Nassauer's 'Cues to Care'
to mitigate negative responses to the aesthetic of naturalised rivers
through, for example, the acceptance of exotic plants as part of
ecological restoration. Could this herald a truce on the battlefields
of natural infrastructure? How will the 'Cues to Care' treaty be
drafted in Christchurch?
Joby Barham
Master of Landscape Architecture graduate from Lincoln University.
Email: jobybarham@gmail.com
Reference: Nassauer,
J. (1995). Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames. Landscape Journal vol.
14, no. 2.
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