Book two final in spread form

The Journal: In Response to the Auckland City Master Plan Behind the Scene of the Asian Ethnoscape

Grace Yi Kung ARCHDES700 Chris Barton, Nat Cheshire, Pip Cheshire, Ludo Campbell-Reid, Raphaela Rose

ASIAN ETHNOSCAPE IN NEW ZEALAND

The most common reference to Asian in the media is the population that identifies with particular Asian ethnic groups, rather than the population that was born in the 27 Asian countries. A common tendency is to assume that the Asian ethnic population is from Asia.

The tendency to conflate birthplace with ethnicity, and to assume that, for example, Chinese must come from China, or Indians must come from India, is one that must be challenged for all ethnic groups In common with most of the different ethnic groups in New Zealand, the Asian peoples resident in New Zealand can come from many different places. Asians are commonly identified as just ‘Asian’ although most time it is not the case. This representation of a single identity and voice is mostly considered undesirable. The single definition of ‘New Zealander’ has been on debate that New Zealand involves multiple layers of identity.

There has been mostly positive contact between ethnic Asians and non-Asian New Zealanders, although not without some cases of racism. This is especially evident against new immigrants and those who have not attended the New Zealand education system.

There have been a few prominent cases, because of the massive media attraction, of racial disgrace.

What the world see?

What New Zealand see?

Restaurants and Retail There has been a rapid growth of Asian retail enterprises in the undulating ethnoscapes of Auckland. They are commonly identified in clusters such as in areas of Upper Queen Street, Dominion Road, Sandringham Road, New Lynn, Somerville and Dannemora. This phenomenon is evident in nearly every suburban region, especially those named with also a widespread distribution of supermarkets, bakeries, IT shops, religious and community services. These enterprises had owners of ethnic descent and mainly served the Chinese population. They are mainly located in areas of high Chinese density and in highly commercialized locations such as the CBD and Newmarket.

This growth in ‘ethnic’ are seen as positive outcomes of immigration. The numbers of these restaurants at present has approximately doubled in the last decade. ~

Dominion Road

However, Auckland’s diversity can be overstated‌ Generally, for the chattering classes "Auckland" is the old tramway suburbs.

Meadowlands Drive

And what does these areas always have?

The Yum Cha Top 10 China 2 Beach Rd, Britomart.

Crystal Harbour 39 Market Place, Viaduct.

Golden Phoenix 61 Mokoia Rd, Birkenhead.

Grand Harbour Cnr Pakenham St/Customs St West, Viaduct.

Grand Park Seafood Gate B, Alexandra park Raceway, Green Lane West, Epsom.

HKD Seafood Restaurant 928 Dominion Rd, Mt Roskill.

Jin Hai Wan 57 Wakefield St, CBD. North Sea Village 9 Corinthian Drive, Albany.

Pearl Garden 1 Teed St, Newmarket.

Star Cafe 9/345 Chapel Rd, Botany Downs

Bubble Milk Tea

Yum Cha

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Asian Supermarket

Asian Bakery

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Festivals and Markets The largest of is the Asia New Zealand Foundation Lantern Festival held during Chinese New Year, having expanded to become a four-day event since its first public event in 2000, attracting tens of thousands including a high number of non-Asians.

It is regularly referred to as the “largest expression of friendship” between Auckland and the Chinese community. Every person gets to embrace the diverse culture as they meander through spaces illuminated by spectacular lanterns while feasting on a diverse selection of Chinese delicacies, paused in step by the stunning live performances.

At the other end of the year is the Indian Diwali festival, “festival of lights” which has rapidly grown and attracted all different cultures in recent years. Similar in the range of cultural forms to the Lantern Festival, it includes a Bollywood dance competition.

Throughout the year there are also smaller-scale events from different ethnic groups such as the Festival of India, Eid (Muslim) and dragon boat races in particular regions. ~

Auckland Night Market

Auckland Lantern Festival

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However, Auckland’s diversity can be overstated…

Generally, for the chattering classes "Auckland" is the old tramway suburbs.

Auckland is so diverse that the ASB has Migrant, Asian and Korean Banking Units. Those bankers aren't stupid.

I’ve wondered for years whether there is actually any useful metric at all for diversity. It’s not a trivial question, because people use “more diverse” all the time, like it’s a meaningful concept. But what does it actually mean? Can a number be put to it? If not, can we at least order from most to least diverse? Can we ever say we’re there yet, if there is no measurable milestone of any kind?

Forum From my stomach's perspective Auckland is a hugely diverse city and that makes me very happy ... and quite hungry now :).

For me the measure of cultural diversity is the food. When I first went overseas I couldn't understand why so many cities only had one cuisine. But if you eat around Auckland you can have almost any cuisine. Dominion road ranges from Santhiya's Sth Indian/malaysian, through Turkish kebabs, the whole gamut of chinese varieties in Balmoral as well as all along Dominion Rd, Sushi and Japanese at Banzai, great pizza at Gorgeous, a game restaurant at Cazador, through to classic modern kiwi international at Meridiths and Two Fifteen.

Define diversity, though It's just another word for variety.

Not recognition, tolerance or respect, which is what you seem to be conflating it with.

It's an interesting one, and I've learned that NZ is really quite unique in a lot of ways in this respect. Geographically, NZ is an South Pacific island, far closer to Asia than it is to Europe, yet because of the huge impact of European colonisation / invasion, so many people here regard 'white NZ' as 'normal', and the Asians as the new invaders. Yet geographically it makes perfect sense that a lot of Asian (and Pacific Island) people would want to come and settle here. My impression from talking, especially to older kiwis of european descent, is that they feel very deeply that NZ is somehow still part of Europe (or even of the UK) - it just happens to be 12000m miles away on the other side of the world. It's very evident in the advertising of products here - anything that purports to be of high quality tends to have some claim to being of "European design" or somesuch. But the UK has pretty much cut NZ loose in terms of trade etc, so they have to look at the Asian markets to survive. So I guess the fact that their little corner of England-on-Pacific is changing rapidly scares a lot of people, and it comes out as hostility to Asian people that come here - and don't choose to adopt kiwi ways of living. I guess there is a bit of an island mentality here too - pretty narrow minded and closed off to incomers sometimes, especially ones that look / talk / eat / work / drive differently. And the reference to young people was interesting - I don't think there is a more conservative-minded groups anywhere than teenagers - hopefully they will mellow as they get a bit older and realise there is a whole world outside their town / NZ!!

All over Auckland you get a huge variety of amazing foods all over the place, at Markets and little ethnic eating houses where two dishes are great and the rest of the menu is best avoided. And our top restaurants have all benefited from that influence, both in the huge variety of produce available now and in the staff coming through who just happen to have this great family recipe for…

For some time now, Auckland Libraries' selfcheck machines give you the option of English, Maori, Mandarin and Korean (possibly others as I write this).

May seem like a meaningless little footnote but just another sign of diversity just built into the everyday.

You have to really stop and look to realise how much things have changed in the space of a few decades.

Media and Public Perceptions Since mid-2004, there has been at least 20 Chinese language newspapers, three television channels and three radio stations and three magazine and various websites offered to the Chinese population. The Indian community has also readily-available media such as hard copy and online newspapers and a devoted radio station. All these are mostly based in Auckland while still serving the whole of New Zealand. ~

International Students In recent years there have been more international students arriving in New Zealand then there are permanent residents. Although their impact is short term, they contribute heavily to new ethnoscapes. Among the international students, 87 were from Asia, with two-thirds from China. About one-third of Asian international students in the tertiary level is based in Auckland. There is a high number of students in tertiary level that are permanent residents of Asian ethnicity. For instance, around 35 percent of the student population was Asian in the University of Auckland in 2006, with three-quarters whom were permanent residents. Hence, there is a high concentration of Asian students in central Auckland where the top tertiary institutions are and this have aided a stable demand for downtown apartments. From study in 2006, 47 percent of the population in the CBD was Asian. This high percentage of Asian student have had a major impact in downtown in terms of the nature of eateries, entertainment, shops and patronage. ~

“Incidents and tensions arising from differences in race or religion are not unique to predominantly Caucasion societies like New Zealand. Nevertheless, it is a fault line that New Zealand needs to keep in mind.�

Integration and Clustering A survey of skilled migrants proved that while the slow pace of life, climate and natural greenery were seen the most positively, the economic factors, such as lack of career opportunities and high taxes were considered the most negative factors of settlement in New Zealand. This is a fatal aspect of New Zealand. Although New Zealand is ‘desirable’ in terms of living, in the long term, especially with the flow of the new millennium, the generation of ‘desirable’ job opportunities is what drives a more desirable living. New Zealand, in this case Auckland, needs to establish a reputation of anticipation and pleasing career and business prospects.

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Creativity In recent years, New Zealand is also known for its creative industry, technically producing internationally-renowned artists like soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, film director Sir Peter Jackson and rising Grammy award singer Lorde. It also does flaunt a number of Nobel laureates. However they are usually honoured and recognized while working abroad. ~

Saudi Arabia of Milk New Zealand has had a high reputation as the Saudi Arabia of milk, with its dairy and agricultural produce constituting resources perhaps no less vital than Australia minerals. However, agriculture itself is not sufficient in constituting New Zealand as a competitive internationalized city alongside other globally successfully cities such as Hong Kong, Sydney and New York. ~

Trade New Zealand has established a firm bilateral relationship with China as a major trading partner in the market economy. China serving as a production platform for New Zealand firms. It is also the largest source country of foreign students and fourth largest source of visitors to New Zealand. Based on the above factors, Asia, in particular China, is a major economic support to New Zealand in terms of trade, education and tourism and this should be kept in mind.

On the other hand, New Zealand’s place in or out of Asia is not something significantly pondered. It is usually propped with Australia, a small English-speaking island, under Australia’s wings. Old maps even categorize New Zealand and Australia as “Australasia”. To them, New Zealand is just “there”, just near the margin of construct called “Asia”. Nevertheless, New Zealand is at present economically and geopolitically accepted as part of Asia as there has been an evident gradual disappearance of former stereotypes like ethnic discriminatory immigration policies due to change within New Zealand-Australia in relation with Asia. Its soft power is like a breath of fresh air to a region that is still afflicted by numerous economic, social and political issues.

It is significant to keep in mind that the drawbacks of geography and demographics are enduring limitations although New Zealand has achieved well in overcoming these aspects. Attention on population, economic and military weight alone would underestimate the value of New Zealand. It needs to continue to aim hard in upholding its accomplishment in the face of strong competition. This means establishing more businesses in Asia and shifting into a higher-valued-added, knowledge-based sectors. This has been a major issue with the loss of skilled pioneers to overseas, many who leave in permanent. ~

CITIES are the results of evolution. We would want local character and local identity to be preserved, but on the other hand we must not make the mistake of identifying the requirements of modern living and the process of industrialisation with de-orientation.

What is inevitable, considering the same demographics, is density. Anyone with any appreciation for the sense of a city will agree that a true city is a congested city – congestion not of cars but of people drawn close together by a multitude of related activities‌High buildings will be the norm rather than the exception.

IN CONCLUSION, it is not just about establishing a place of mixing and belonging, but more importantly to place Auckland on the fundamental frontage in the wider global context. To view the rising Asian power in aiding Auckland to establish a more secure position in all social, political and the economical aspect.

PROPOSAL: in response to site

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FOREST TOWER BULLITIN

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