How does ideology and history impact our environment and in turn our ways of living? How can we change both theoretical structures and physical structures to allow values of commonality to thrive? On whose values are we building our cities, homes and lives? Join Jade Kake, Ioela (Niki) Rauti, Dieneke Jansen, Nina Patel and Jessamine Fraser, to consider the connections between housing, gentrification and the commons. 

OCTOBER 2019

Housing is a basic human need, but for many in Aotearoa it is inaccessible, unaffordable or unsafe to live in. The commodification of housing makes it primarily a source of profit for property owners rather than providing homes for all. The way our cities are designed alienates people from one another instead of allowing them to connect and make decisions about what happens in their communities. In Tāmaki Makaurau we have seen state-led gentrification in the name of development push people out of their homes and communities. 

At this hui we will think about how housing and our cities might be transformed beyond simply meeting the need for homes: allowing for more collective ways of living, playing a part in decolonisation and healing trauma and enabling people to care for their surrounding environment. We will take a look at the current development in Avondale and how this compares with previous state-led developments, such as that in Glen Innes which begun in 2012. 

After presentations from our speakers we will screen a short work by Dieneke Jansen who bore witness to Tamaki Housing Group’s occupation of Ioela (Niki) Rauti‘s home in 2017. We will then gather into smaller, facilitated groups to discuss questions raised by the speakers as well as our own experiences and visions for housing in Avondale and wider Aotearoa.

The format of this hui places importance on knowledge sharing and participatory engagement.

Pipi Press is an initiative to publish critical and hopeful content which encompasses the poetic and political. The not-for-profit publishing house takes its name from the whakataukī, he pipi te tuatahi, he kaunuku te tuarua, translated as first the small entering wedge, second the large splitting wedge, referring to the felling of a tree. We envision our books as small beginnings towards wider change. Find out more at www.pipipress.co.nz