![]() | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(November 2016) |
Indigenous planning (or Indigenous community planning) is an ideological approach to the field of regional planning where planning is done by Indigenous peoples for Indigenous communities. [1] Practitioners integrate traditional knowledge or cultural knowledge into the process of planning. Indigenous planning recognizes that "all human communities plan" [1] and that Indigenous communities have been carrying out their own community planning processes for thousands of years. [2] While the broader context of urban planning, and social planning includes the need to work cooperatively with indigenous persons and organizations, the process in doing so is dependent on social, political and cultural forces.
As there are many Indigenous cultures, practices and planning within Indigenous communities vary greatly.
Indigenous planning has a broader and more comprehensive scope than mainstream or Western planning, and is not limited to land use planning or physical development. Indigenous planning is comprehensive and can address all aspects of community life through community development, including the social and environmental aspects that impact the lives of community members. [3]
Indigenous planning for land and resources can be understood as transformative planning as it addresses complex issues of Indigenous sovereignty, self-government, and self-determination. [4] [5] Indigenous planning can also be understood as a form of insurgent planning, [6] as it provides an avenue for communities to confront and address their own oppression. [4] Indigenous planning is often a tool which allows for Indigenous communities to regain control over resources and exercise maintenance of their culture and political autonomy.
The scope of Indigenous planning can be seen to cover three broad areas: Indigenous communities, urban Indigenous communities, land and resource planning[ citation needed ].
Indigenous peoples have been planning their communities for thousands of years, often referred to as 'since time immemorial'. However, planning as a technical and colonial tool has historically been used as a means to dispossess Indigenous communities through the re-appropriation of traditional territories for non-Indigenous profit and development. While Indigenous community planning is historically based upon managing interactions with the natural world, it now also focuses on interactions with non-Indigenous actors as well. In the political sense, this means fighting for and receiving legitimization and empowerment in leadership positions that were stripped from them through colonization. [7] As such, Indigenous planning has re-emerged as a reaction to Western planning, which was historically used as a colonial tool, for example through the reserve system in Canada. [8] [9]
Indigenous planning emerged as a planning culture and field of practice during the mid-20th century within the context of modern planning and imperialism, however, Indigenous groups have been planning their own urban spaces for as long as they have existed. It is a continually evolving practice and spans (but is contextually unique to) Indigenous communities around the world. [1] According to John Friedmann, Indigenous planning emerged as a formalized field in relation to mainstream planning in 1992 at a MIT conference through the creation of a theory of action that was based on long-term learning, local planning and shared culture. [10] Three years later, in 1995, the Indigenous Planning Network was created under the American Planning Association (APA); the division is currently called Indigenous Planning (IP). [11]
Contemporary Indigenous planning practices are particularly prevalent in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States (countries with large Indigenous populations and colonial histories). Histories of colonization have significantly impacted Indigenous communities and their planning cultures. [12] International colonial processes are complex, divergent, and context specific. [13] The large scale and ongoing impacts of these processes include but are not limited to: dispossession from land and retrenchment of decision-making power, intergenerational trauma, systematic racism, and disruptions of local and traditional cultural systems. [13] Taiaiake Alfred asserts that it is essential to differentiate between Indigenous and Western planning cultures that are implicated within colonial legacies. [14] Generally, Western planning cultures have tended to value linear systems of rationality, with power structures that dominate and suppress those cultures that do not share these value systems. [2] Since colonization processes took place throughout the world, Indigenous planning cultures were largely ignored and actively disrupted as they were seen as impediments to western civilisation and progress. [12] The culture of Indigenous planning is described as a movement where Indigenous communities, planners, academics, governments, institutions, and leaders, resist colonial and neo-colonial planning traditions as well as work towards increasing protections of rights, freedoms, and sovereignty for Indigenous peoples. [15]
Some of the key principles of Indigenous planning that are distinguishable from 'mainstream' or Western planning approaches, are its recognition and incorporation of traditional knowledge, cultural identity, customary law, and Indigenous world-views.[ dubious ] [11] As collective land-based peoples, land tenure and stewardship are at the core of Indigenous planning paradigms. [2] Instead of regulating private land use, as western planning does, indigenous communities see land as a birthright that belongs to everyone, passed down through generations. Because of this belief, keeping the lands productivity stable for the next generation is a large component of Indigenous planning. [16] Also in line with this belief, and a unique aspect of indigenous planning, are the countless indigenous technologies that work to foster a positive human relationship with the environment, as well as ensure present and future human symbiosis with nature. [17]
Indigenous communities everywhere have sustained and developed distinct, fluid and evolving planning cultures that are unique to land, history, and peoples. These cultural planning practices include land stewardship, resource management, community planning, and intergenerational learning transfers such as traditional ecological knowledge. [2] Indigenous planning cultures often hold traditional governance structures, including: matrilineal heritage or consensus based decision making; self-reliance and resiliency; and, reciprocity and ceremony. [18] Complex relationships with time exist, with strong emphases on cyclical patterns, such as nature-human relational processes and the Seven Generation Sustainability methodology. [18] Strength-based practices and wellness planning lenses are employed, rather than a negative or weakness based assessment framework. [19] Many of these Indigenous cultures evoke particular planning methods, including: Transformational Planning, [20] Participatory Planning, Therapeutic Planning, [21] Cultural Humility, and Reconciliation.
The Indigenous planning culture is an intersectional, placed-based approach and political movement that is shaping western and mainstream urban planning cultures. [13] Paullette Regan discusses the process of changing Canadian planning culture through the efforts of non-Indigenous Canadians to decolonize their personal beliefs and behaviours. [22] Ryan Walker and Hiringi Matunga use case studies from Canada and New Zealand to discuss how planners might be able to re-situate Indigenous and mainstream planning cultures as a partnership in urban contexts. [13] The reclamation of Indigenous planning cultures challenges western planning assumptions and many planners worldwide are questioning how non-indigenous and indigenous planners can work collaboratively towards planning practices that are reconciliatory, respectful, creative and culturally responsive. [13]
Some Canadian First Nations engage in Indigenous planning through an approach known as Comprehensive Community Planning (CCP). [23] [24] CCP is a community-led and community-owned process. As a planning exercise, CCP takes a holistic and long-term approach that considers all aspects of the community, for example: housing, health, culture, economy, land use, resources, education, language revitalization and governance. [23] CCP can also be a way for Indigenous communities to engage formally with government organizations who provide external resources and funding for First Nations projects. [24] Comprehensive Community Plans are living documents designed to reflect and respond to the changing priorities and goals of the community. [25]
In the United States in 1995, a grassroots movement with the ideals of the new theory of indigenous planning established 5 basic principles of indigenous planning. [26] The principles established are; people thrive in community, ordinary people have all the answers, people have a basic right to determine their own future, oppression continues to be a force that devastates people, and the people are beautiful, already. [26]
The city of Benin has been thriving since before it was ransacked by a British punitive raid in 1897. Before the raid, the city was ordered according to family groupings. The city nonetheless survived and is home to more than a million people today.
Laos' Northern Provinces relies on the economic activity of swidden farming and raising livestock, which due to many complicated factors, is currently not sustainable and causing periods of food insecurity and lack of economic funds. [27] To alleviate these problems and prevent future worsening of the problem, the Northern Region Sustainable Livelihoods Development Project uses "participatory livestock development," which will in turn help the surrounding ecosystems. [27]
The En'owkinwixw process is a traditional method of facilitating "collective learning and community decision-making" [28] used by Syilx communities in Okanagan, British Columbia. The CCP for the Penticton Indian Band is an example of the En'owkinwixw process in action. The process emphasizes inclusion and equal voice in community consultation to create a common guiding framework that is culturally relevant. [28]
In the 1995 American Planning Association's Chicago conference, indigenous planning emerged in academic planning circles, largely pushed by the people of the Oneida Nation. [29] The conference resulted in the Indigenous Planning Network (IPN), a division in the American Planning Association. [29]
Mark Magee, a planner for the Blackfeet Nation (or Amskapi Pikani), describes the difficulties that arise from jurisdictional issues, a common theme in indigenous planning. [30] Policies from the federal, state, and county levels often conflict with indigenous ideals, which can be hard to overcome. Currently, the planners are working on a project to bring bison back to their land, to restore both the ecosystem, and their old cultural way of life that includes bison. [31] There is also a land buy-back program aimed at returning private, non-native owned lands to the Blackfeet Nation, which was successful in regaining 324 thousand acres of land. [30]
In Australia, land councils are regional organizations representing Indigenous Australians. [32] While the primary function is to advocate for traditional land rights, the work of many land councils extends to community development plans and programs, which focus on the economic, social and cultural well-being of Indigenous Australians. [33] [34]
The Maori in New Zealand practice Iwi Management Planning, which provides a framework for tribes to define their past and present, and prescribe "management, planning and decision-making processes to guide iwi toward their concept of self-determination". [15] Iwi management planning and its associated policies and approaches are examples of indigenous planning done by and for Maori communities. Furthermore, Maori iwi management planning is a planning tradition that has a history that predates colonization and any ensuing acts or treaties. Contemporary Maori planning practiced today can be seen as a "dual planning tradition" where the nature of planning in the context of colonization continues to evolve while remaining grounded in Maori tradition and philosophy. [15]
In Hawai'i there is a trend towards the traditional Ahupuaʻa concept of land management, particularly with watershed planning. [35]
In 2010, the Kamëntšá won the rights to their land, which lies in the Sibundoy Valley of present-day Colombia. [36] After this preliminary step that came after decades of disposition by colonialism, they legally regained 20% of their ancestral lands. [36] Their land use visions center primarily around the cosmos and public health, two very important aspects of their culture. [36] In order to protect those interests, protection of watersheds and ecosystems with traditional medicinal plants are high on the people's' priority list. [36]
Several planning schools have incorporated Indigenous planning focuses into their curriculum. Some build relationships with Indigenous communities on whose lands they exist[ discuss ]. For example, the University of British Columbia, School of Community and Regional Planning maintains a partnership with the Musqueam Indian Band. [37] Planning schools which offer Indigenous planning curricula are often interested in updating professional planning education and practice through approaches involving the native ideals and perspectives of decolonization and reflexivity. [9]
Academic institutions with Indigenous planning-focused curricula include:
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for construction and human use, investigation of existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of other interventions that will produce desired outcomes.
Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assimilates the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially.
Language revitalization, also referred to as language revival or reversing language shift, is an attempt to halt or reverse the decline of a language or to revive an extinct one. Those involved can include linguists, cultural or community groups, or governments. Some argue for a distinction between language revival and language revitalization. There has only been one successful instance of a complete language revival, the Hebrew language, creating a new generation of native speakers without any pre-existing native speakers as a model.
Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals of modern land use planning often include environmental conservation, restraint of urban sprawl, minimization of transport costs, prevention of land use conflicts, and a reduction in exposure to pollutants. In the pursuit of these goals, planners assume that regulating the use of land will change the patterns of human behavior, and that these changes are beneficial. The first assumption, that regulating land use changes the patterns of human behavior is widely accepted. However, the second assumption - that these changes are beneficial - is contested, and depends on the location and regulations being discussed.
Native American studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and contemporary experience of Native peoples in North America, or, taking a hemispheric approach, the Americas. Increasingly, debate has focused on the differences rather than the similarities between other Ethnic studies disciplines such as African American studies, Asian American Studies, and Latino/a Studies.
Indigenous decolonization describes ongoing theoretical and political processes whose goal is to contest and reframe narratives about indigenous community histories and the effects of colonial expansion, cultural assimilation, exploitative Western research, and often though not inherent, genocide. Indigenous people engaged in decolonization work adopt a critical stance towards western-centric research practices and discourse and seek to reposition knowledge within Indigenous cultural practices.
Cultural practice is the manifestation of a culture or sub-culture, especially in regard to the traditional and customary practices of a particular ethnic or other cultural groups.
Indigenous intellectual property is a term used in national and international forums to describe intellectual property that is "collectively owned" by various Indigenous peoples, and by extension, their legal rights to protect specific such property. This property includes cultural knowledge of their groups and many aspects of their cultural heritage and knowledge, including that held in oral history. In Australia, the term Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, abbreviated as ICIP, is commonly used.
Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the Indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the rights over their land, language, religion, and other elements of cultural heritage that are a part of their existence and identity as a people. This can be used as an expression for advocacy of social organizations, or form a part of the national law in establishing the relation between a government and the right of self-determination among its Indigenous people, or in international law as a protection against violation of Indigenous rights by actions of governments or groups of private interests.
Indigenous archaeology is a sub-discipline of Western archaeological theory that seeks to engage and empower indigenous people in the preservation of their heritage and to correct perceived inequalities in modern archaeology. It also attempts to incorporate non-material elements of cultures, like oral traditions, into the wider historical narrative. This methodology came out of the global anti-colonial movements of the 1970s and 1980s led by aboriginal and indigenous people in settler-colonial nations, like the United States, Canada, and Australia. Major issues the sub-discipline attempts to address include the repatriation of indigenous remains to their respective peoples, the perceived biases that western archaeology's imperialistic roots have imparted into its modern practices, and the stewardship and preservation of indigenous people's cultures and heritage sites. This has encouraged the development of more collaborative relationships between archaeologists and indigenous people and has increased the involvement of indigenous people in archaeology and its related policies.
Indigenous education specifically focuses on teaching Indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content within formal or non-formal educational systems. The growing recognition and use of Indigenous education methods can be a response to the erosion and loss of Indigenous knowledge through the processes of colonialism, globalization, and modernity.
Indigenous American philosophy is the philosophy of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. An Indigenous philosopher is an Indigenous American person who practices philosophy and draws upon the history, culture, language, and traditions of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Many different traditions of philosophy exist in the Americas, and have from Precolumbian times.
The field of Indigenous architecture refers to the study and practice of architecture of, for and by Indigenous people. It is a field of study and practice in the United States, Australia, Aotearoa, Canada, Arctic area of Sápmi and many other countries where Indigenous people have a built tradition or aspire translate or to have their cultures translated in the built environment. This has been extended to landscape architecture, urban design, planning, public art, placemaking and other ways of contributing to the design of built environments. The term usually designates any culture-specific architecture: it covers both the vernacular architecture and contemporary architecture inspired by the enculture, even when the latter includes features brought from outside.
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning in specific contexts, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks, and their accessibility. Traditionally, urban planning followed a top-down approach in master planning the physical layout of human settlements. The primary concern was the public welfare, which included considerations of efficiency, sanitation, protection and use of the environment, as well as effects of the master plans on the social and economic activities. Over time, urban planning has adopted a focus on the social and environmental bottom lines that focus on planning as a tool to improve the health and well-being of people, maintaining sustainability standards. Similarly, in the early 21st century, Jane Jacobs's writings on legal and political perspectives to emphasize the interests of residents, businesses and communities effectively influenced urban planners to take into broader consideration of resident experiences and needs while planning.
Planning cultures are the differing customs and practices in the profession of urban and regional planning that exist around the world. The discourse, models, and styles of communication in planning are adapted to the various local conditions of each community such that planning approaches from one part of the world are not necessarily transferable to other parts of the globe. Planning culture can refer to how planning professionals undertake their practice in a given location, where they are "affected by both individual and collectively shared cognitive frames" that shape their view of the world. Planners, as stated by Simone Abram, are "constantly in the process of actually producing culture". The concept of planning culture also encompasses how planning actually unfolds within a community, as shaped by its culture and influenced by its people. Differing cultural contexts produce different planning and policy responses to issues "bound to specific local (cultural) contexts". Examples of planning cultures include those specific to different countries, regions, and parts of the globe, as well as differing cultures that exist within the same location, such as indigenous planning cultures.
Urban planning in Africa results from indigenous aesthetics and conceptions of form and function as well as the changes brought on by industrialization, modernization, and colonialism. Before the Berlin Conference of 1884 – 1885, which formalized colonialism in many parts of Africa, indigenous African cities and villages had ordered structures that varied along ethnic and religious lines and according to geography. All land-uses necessary for functioning––markets, religious sites, farms, communal assembly spaces––existed in ordered, rational ways, as did land property practices and laws, many of which changed under colonial control. Urbanity changed significantly from pre-colonial to colonial times, as slavery, Christianity, and a host of other forces caused a change in the population of indigenous urban dwellers.
Hirini Matunga is a New Zealand town planning academic and as of 2019 is a full professor at the Lincoln University. He has written on Māori tourism as well as indigenous thinking within the field of urban planning.
A land acknowledgement or territorial acknowledgement is a formal statement that acknowledges the original Indigenous Peoples of the land, spoken at the beginning of public events. The custom of land acknowledgement is a traditional practice that dates back centuries in many Indigenous cultures.
Indigenous librarianship is a distinct field of librarianship that brings Indigenous approaches to areas such as knowledge organization, collection development, library and information services, language and cultural practices, and education. The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences states that Indigenous librarianship emerged as a "distinct field of practice and an arena for international scholarship in the late twentieth century bolstered by a global recognition of the value and vulnerability of Indigenous knowledge systems, and of the right of Indigenous peoples to control them."
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