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Carlton Eley was a 2003 Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellow
in Public Policy at the Ministry for the Environment, where he researched
New Zealand approaches to facilitating sustainable settlements and smart
growth. Since returning to the US, he has applied inspirations from New
Zealand community development to urban design projects back home.
Funded research, exposure to new perspectives, and life-long memories - what more could one ask for in a fellowship? In 2003, I was selected to participate in the Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowships in Public Policy. I recall researching fellowship options in 2001. At that time, I was familiar with the Mansfield Fellowship Program to Japan as well as the Ian Axford Fellowships. Geoffrey Booth, a professional colleague, convinced me to apply for the Ian Axford Fellowship. Geoffrey was from Australia. He had worked in Japan temporarily, and he spent his honeymoon in New Zealand. I can still hear him saying “Mate, go to New Zealand!” Six months in New Zealand was a refreshing change of pace from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Initiatives for encouraging urban redevelopment were gaining momentum in the US. As a result, my fellowship research focused on New Zealand approaches for encouraging sustainable settlements and smart growth. Because the fellowship was confined to six months, I didn’t have a lot of time to dawdle. Smart growth strategies tend to focus on designing communities that are walkable and bikeable as well as places that are oriented around the needs of people rather than cars. As a result, I decided the best way to learn about smart growth in New Zealand was by foot, and I opted to not buy a car during my fellowship. It was a sustainable choice and a healthy choice. I lost 30 lbs during the fellowship. Living Streets Aotearoa would be proud! My only regret is not having a pedometer and keeping a log of how much walking I did each day. Although New Zealand is a small island nation of four million people, I learned very quickly the trans-Pacific commonalities between New Zealand and the US. Citizens in both nations are asking critical questions about their cities, regional settlement patterns, and lifestyle choices - “How and where should growth occur?” and “Can we expect a different outcome from current patterns of development?” The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment was my host institution. As an urban planner, I was in an unique position during my fellowship. I witnessed the Ministry’s creation of an “urban design team.” I was present to see the budding development of New Zealand’s Urban Design Protocol. Further, I was the resident expert from the US who served as a sounding board for ideas. While I traveled to New Zealand to research how the nation’s policies may enable smart growth, I left the country enriched with broader knowledge about programs in brownfields redevelopment, mainstreet revitalization, heritage landscapes, and Iwi approaches to community development. The later issues “heritage landscapes and Māori examples of community development” left a lasting impression on me as an urban planner. In New Zealand, the public discourse about heritage landscapes reveals there are many landscapes which have heritage significance to communities, Iwi, and the nation. In the process, Kiwis have learned that preservation isn’t simply about protecting historic buildings, landmarks, and monuments. It is also about honoring the narratives, the institutions, and cultural assets that contribute to a sense of place. In striving to create “sustainable cities,” an important lesson is that communities are more than just a collection of buildings, streets, and parks. It’s the people who live within them that make them great. In the end, the built heritage and the institutional heritage are both taonga (treasures) because they equally contribute to creating a “place-making dividend” for a community. As for community development models, an Axford experience would be incomplete without a visit to Waiwhetū Marae in Lower Hutt. Terry Puketapu’s descriptions of how the local Iwi authority transformed a neighborhood in Lower Hutt by responding to local needs for new services, facilities, and jobs are always impressive. During a return visit to New Zealand in 2007, I made a special trip to Waiwhetū Marae to see the cultural center that was built and to listen to more of Terry’s anecdotes. Again, I was quite impressed with New Zealand approaches to heritage landscapes and community development. In recent years, it seems these themes have become more central to my work as an urban planner, environmentalist, and civil servant in the US. For example, in September I wrapped up work on a community technical assistance project in Gary, Indiana. The principle strategy for the project was “equitable development” because Gary’s citizens want future development to accomplish multiple sustainability goals. In addition to urban management, economic prosperity, environmental protection, and resource efficiency, citizens want to protect cultural heritage and cherished institutions; encourage meaningful participation of all citizens; and foster community parity. Locals realize Gary has many distinct cultural treasures that can be leveraged as the city rebounds. For example, Gary’s music reputation is built on jazz and the blues as well as music artists such as Jimmy Reed, The Spaniels, The Beatles, and The Jackson 5. New Zealand is often thought of as an inspiring place because of the
abundant natural amenity. With successful outcomes in Gary, Indiana, perhaps
New Zealand can be thought of as a source for inspiration through redevelopment
that avoids creating winners and losers, but rather aims to lift up and
revitalize areas holistically.
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