Urban Eco-Communities in Australia by Liam Cooper & Hans A. Baer

Author:Liam Cooper & Hans A. Baer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Singapore

It was always hoped that the sense of community and the social events like the one I have described above—the informal gatherings, community meals, working bees and such things—would have naturally formed part of life at Christie Walk. Maybe this would have happened anyway as residents became more familiar with each other over time. However, it strikes me that the success of this place lies in its shared history. In many ways the story of Christie Walk is characterised by bonds forged through collective endeavour. Resident participation ‘in place’ can enable communities to develop shared histories and collective memories (Crabtree 2005; Jarvis 2011). Many of the hardships faced by the Christie Walk community over the years have hardened its resolve and brought people together. The need to work together to finish the development helped bring together disparate groups and individuals as the community’s population doubled in size over a very short period of time. The act of participating in place is considered by many of the residents I spoke to as a crucial element in the development of a sense of community because it reinforced the notion that residents were bound by common interests, as the above quote from Penny points out.

The working bees and shared meals which enjoy a prominent position in the community’s social life, now etched in the social calendar, were not always an intended part of Christie Walk’s social infrastructure. Instead these rituals grew out of the necessity for residents to finish off parts of the development themselves due to financial constraints. These financial constraints ultimately became a social boon because residents were forced to work with each other to complete the unfinished design, including constructing the stormwater drains, carport, tool shed, gardens, internal streets and the parking area. The paving of the parking area was a particularly huge task and required two full weekends to complete the majority of the project. Residents were encouraged to sign up to one or two shifts each day to help haul and lay pavers. Most people were willing to take part as it was in their interests to see it finished, others had to be dragged into it. Returning to Penny’s quote, the process of finishing the site themselves was important. These communal activities acted as a socialising mechanism which helped bring new residents into the fold by providing an immediate opportunity for newly-arrived residents to get to know their neighbours. Zac, for instance, found the working bees allowed him to ‘meet and get to know’ his new neighbours and to feel like he was contributing to the group ‘even though I didn’t bring any manual skills (Interview with Zac, 2013).

Christie Walkers have pointed out that in many ways the process of making place—i.e. the embodied act of participating in the construction of meaningful spaces—was a critical part of the story. Many of my research participants felt that if all aspects of Christie Walk had been completed prior to the residents moving in, then the social relationships and sense

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