redfern
I have a question: does anyone know of good any writing about the last few years of Redfern’s history, of planning and policy, of struggles in relation to development, land speculation, yuppification and efforts at deliberate deconcentration/dispersal of people deemed to be a problem? I’m looking for accounts which might combine economic with political analyses i.e. the capitalist logic of urban ‘development’ and the state’s intent to ‘deal with’ the people of Redfern? (Not that I want to divide the forces involved into private capital and state respectively, as if this simply mirrored some crude version of an economic/political divide…but I think you probably get what I mean.)
Have you checked out the RedWatch site? http://www.redwatch.org.au/ Masses of stuff there. Also I know of someone researching an honours thesis on exactly that topic, but I don’t know how far along it is. I’ll try to find out and put them in touch.
If you find other good stuff, let me know, I’m also really interested. I live on the edge of the Block so I have some contact with what is going on, but I haven’t sat down and done any research yet!
I think the long term plan is to extend the Sydney CDB south so that Redfern becomes a commercial area combined with apartment living. The area is already quite gentrified - take a look at the census stats, Redfern has both very low and quite high income groups and not much in the middle. Redfern station is earmarked to be much more of a transport hub, but we’re talking a decade or two there. For these plans to come to fruition, outside perceptions of Redfern must change, which means gentrifying out the ‘people of Redfern’. The Block is an obstacle since it’s owned by the AHC and thus not susceptible to gentrifying. So far it is being dealt with by restrictive zoning - even as the rest of the area was rezoned to allow taller apartments and commercial buildings, the Block land was rezoned more restrictively to prevent more residences being built there. Which is pretty blatant. Also note that there is some tension between residents and the AHC as landowner.
Comment by Mike B — September 19, 2007 @ 11:16 pm
it might be much of the same info but someone use to regularly post stuff to this open archived list i facilitate - sometimes like today it seems it cant be accessed. lists.perthimc.asn.au/mailman/listinfo/blackgreensolidarity
Comment by woooo — September 19, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
Thanks, Mike and V.
Comment by theoryoftheoffensive — September 20, 2007 @ 1:13 am
Couple of things bout the Bloc for ya:
http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/05/block.html
A Critical Media Analysis of the Redfern Riot
http://beta.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/2005/18.html
Comment by Ana — September 23, 2007 @ 12:43 am
http://lists.perthimc.asn.au/pipermail/blackgreensolidarity/2007-September/001719.html
Comment by woooo — September 24, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Redfern-Waterloo/
Comment by Ana — September 25, 2007 @ 12:07 am
Birch, Tony, ‘”Who Gives A Fuck About White Society Anymore?”: A response to the Redfern Riot’, Overland, 2004, 175
Not sure if you’re still writing for this blog, but I hope you do.
see ya soon
Comment by liam — June 4, 2008 @ 3:01 am