INVERSIONES FINANCIERAS

Landscape myths influenced Australian culture and understanding of natural landscapes not only via interpretations in art and literature, but also via landscape- making and park planning. Arcadian attitudes to the countryside and the concept of the bush beyond urban limits have both influenced the characteristic of Australian parks as idealised natural landscapes and refuges from the challenges of urban life. Therefore, it was preferable for parks to have few symbols of urbanised settings to create a stronger sense of ‘bush’ and to illustrate aesthetic order upon the wilderness to develop idealised ‘Arcadian’ scenes. These cultural desires of park characters have resulted in the creation of tamed, yet wide natural landscapes. Subsequently, the influence of bush and Arcadia myths, and attitudes towards constructed natural landscapes among Anglo-Saxon Australians have caused an extensive trend towards English picturesque and broad, natural open spaces in the design of parks.

The present study suggests that this cultural guiding framework of design, derived from the mythical notions of the ‘bush’ and ‘Arcadia’, have granted more natural and less urbanised characteristics to public parks. Although passive activities such as walking, sitting, and picnicking are undertaken in park spaces, these characteristics have also led to the design of large open spaces in parks with fewer considerations in terms of staying in space for longer hours and for various social/passive purposes. This study argues that ‘stillness’, as duration of stay in park landscapes for social/passive purposes, needs specific provisions and settings, particularly to

53

encourage visitors to engage in social activities and stay for longer in urban parks, which may increase park usage and reinforces social cohesion.

3.8 Open Space and Contemporary Patterns of Demand for

Recreation in Australian Parks

Considering the largely white European history and mythology that have led to contemporary Australian perceptions of nature, and subsequent park and garden design, this thesis questions: how do more recent immigrants in Australia appropriate, use, and perceive Australian parks? Also, how do the culture or experiences of nature of non-English immigrants affect their perception of a new park landscape? This thesis raises a cultural question about urban park design in particular that how do urban park landscape characters and settings, which are based on Anglo- Celtic culture and ideology, respond to the contemporary patterns of demand for recreation in Australia?

In Veal’s (2013) view, Australia’s open space standards have never been based on any publicly documented rationale. Instead, they are largely drawn from British and American open space standards and were apparently established without any reference to contemporary patterns of demand for recreation in Australia. Nonetheless, Veal (2013) points out, ‘while national standards for open space planning have long been subject to criticism, their use is still advocated in a number of Australian state planning guidelines’ (Veal 2013, p. 224).

In his study of Australian urban open spaces or parks, using Melbourne as an example, Max Nankervis (1998) questions whether the open space developments are appropriate and in the best interests of social equity. Connecting urban open space with outdoor sport as two concepts that arguably are integral to Australian identity, he claims that the ‘politics of sport’ has become part of the ‘politics of open space’, although 19th_{-century urban planners did not necessarily recognise the role of this}

sporting ideal. Thus parks, especially in the more distant suburbs, were less well landscaped and gradually became home to different kinds of sporting teams, mainly cricket and football. Atthe same time these open spaces were also being alienated

54

as sites for public use and the problem of the parks’ functions became obvious. Over time, certain notions about the use of these spaces developed (Nankervis 1998). It is also important to note that prioritisation of sporting facilities in parks that has been influenced by the dominant English culture may not be in accordance with sport provisions desired by other cultures.

Differences between the ways Anglo-Australians and non-English immigrants use urban parks are not restricted to sporting facilities in these spaces. According to the observation there are also fewer tendencies towards using parks at night among Anglo-Australians. However, activities such as exercising, dog-walking, having barbeques and picnics, nature watching, supervising children on play equipment, holding festivals and celebrations, and sports such as golf, cricket, and football, have been observed to be broadly undertaken in urban parks by Anglo-Australians. Nankervis’ (1998) questions whether Australian urban parks should be considered as places that their mythical nature and identity are fixed, considering the increasing population of non-English-speaking immigrants in Australian cities and the fact that natural open space is still preferred in urban park design. Although urban parks are categorised as urban ‘open space’ in landscape planning and urban literature (Lynch 1981; Woolley 2003), or urban ‘green space’ (Green-Spaces-Task-Force 2002), designing such a park as a large, open space may discourage visitors from remaining there for long or engaging in social activities. Accordingly, park planners have a crucial role in defining ways of using park spaces more effectively. It is suggested that more user-led design of the parks both in their entirety and in their detail is needed (Tisma & Jókövi 2007) to create spaces that foster inclusion among various ethnic groups in multi-cultural societies.

The next chapter reviews studies on contemporary patterns of demand for recreation in Australia - particularly non-English immigrants’ engagements with Australian park landscapes. It investigates how Australian cultural landscape is seen by these immigrants, and how parks may contribute to the sense of inclusivity, or alienation, experienced by non-English immigrant users.

55

4 Chapter Four: Non-English-Speaking

Immigrants’ Engagements with Australian Park

Landscapes

The loss of one place and the need to make a home in another place are inevitably in the act of migration. A sense of ‘home’ may be unattainable, but it can be sought by creating specific place-centred memories (Holmes, Martin & Mirmohamadi 2008). To examine the contemporary patterns of demand for recreation in multicultural Australia, this chapter focuses on non-English-speaking ethnic minorities’ perception of parks, as residents who are dissimilar to Anglo-Celtic Australians. It reviews studies on non-English-speaking immigrants’ use and appreciation of the Australian built environment and particularly park landscapes. It investigates their engagements with park environments and their park culture and values in relation to use of these spaces.

This chapter examines how Australian park landscapes are seen through the lens of immigrants’ park culture, and how they may contribute to the sense of inclusivity, or alienation, experienced by non-English-speaking immigrants’ users. To investigate how cultural parameters may affect perceptions of the landscape, this chapter develops notions of ‘habitus’ and landscape as a cultural phenomenon that frames people’s perception and use of natural landscapes.

Furthermore, the present thesis aims to fill a gap in the literature of the way cultural settings in Australian urban parks may be perceived by non-English-speaking immigrants and the ways they use different park spaces. It will explore how culture and past park use patterns may mediate interactions with new park environments, and how park design may affect these interactions.