A project designed to build intercultural solidarity among the minority populations of the Northcote suburb of Auckland, New Zealand in response to neoliberal gentrification in the area.
Northcote Nannies is a place for Asian grandparents who frequent the Northcote Centre as leisure activity to take care of the children of shoppers. The service manifests in a pavilion-like space built with the intention of being added upon and decorated by the communities who use it.
With childcare as an opportunity for intercultural exchange and, eventually, mutual trust and respect, the need for a common language is eliminated and a sense of union between social minorities is formed.
Since the rise of neo-liberalism in New Zealand, many communities have undergone gentrification, where poorer urban and state housing areas are redeveloped for the residence of wealthier people. During this process, housing is improved and businesses are changed for the new customer base, ultimately creating a financially, physically and/or socially hostile environment where the previous inhabitants are displaced.
Maori and Pacific communities, who have historically had their lands colonised and been consistently oppressed by systemic racism, make up 60% of public housing tenancies and are some of the greatest victims of gentrification.
In the centre of the Northcote suburb is a state housing area that is currently undergoing redevelopment. After development, only a third of the original land will be left for social housing. The Auckland City Council does a lot of this redevelopment under the guise of "creating more social housing"; however, despite decades of gentrification, there has been no increase in social housing. In fact, the waitlist of homeless people looking for state housing has only grown longer.
Concurrently, the Northcote shopping centre — Northcote Centre — adjacent to the social housing area is also undergoing restructuring. The shopping centre is unique because it has attracted many Asian businesses, creating a diverse multi-cultural customer mix, including a strong Maori and Pacific influence. This space is especially popular among Asian grandparents who live in Northcote to congregate and spend leisure time during the day. As people who don't speak English fluently, these grandparents find cultural comfort in Northcote Centre.
Though the masterplan of the remodelling intends to maintain the existing culture of the space, it is clear that this project's focus is on the needs of the incoming middle-class. As such, the needs of the current community will be neglected, especially since they lack the social and linguistic power to speak up against the Council.
In the research phase of this project, I interviewed Vanessa Cole, a PhD student at the University of Auckland researching the future of urban housing. Her Masters thesis on development discourse and community resistance to gentrification in the community of Glen Innes in Auckland was particularly helpful in my beginning understandings of the issue.
The following part of our conversation greatly inspired my project:
Is there a non-governmental route for tackling gentrification?
"The government is always the one making the decisions. We shouldn't excuse their choices and push responsibility onto other parties. However, we as citizens can build power in our communities and organise."
I looked into the two major groups — Maori and Pacific communities in social housing and elderly Asian communities — affected by gentrification in Northcote. Despite being the biggest customer base and stakeholders, they not only are the most voiceless in this redevelopment process, but also have the greatest difficulty building solidarity with each other due to language and culture.
Many parents who shop, including Maori and Pacific parents, need to bring their kids along to the stores. However, when children inevitably become restless and impatient, it hinders the parents' ability to finish their tasks.
Asian grandparents, on the other hand, have very little to do. They often go to Northcote just to hang around with friends and gossip, including reminiscing about kids (per the anecdote of a friend and her Granny’s Asian Nanny Group).
Northcote Nannies breaches the language barrier between elderly Asians and surrounding shoppers by connecting them through the act of childcare. While parents shop, their children can be supervised by the grandparents.
There is no need for perfect verbal communication when it comes to showing care towards children and tending to their needs. Furthermore, by protecting and helping children, the future of the community, a mutual trust and respect can be fostered between groups.
Though this service takes the focus off of Maori and Pacific people and broadens the vision to the collective group of people who shop at Northcote, it doesn't diminish the opportunity to create intercultural bonds.
Flow diagram showing how bringing the two groups together through the Northcote Nannies service can create social solidarity
Northcote Nannies takes place in a pavilion built with only shelter in mind so that the space is designed by the communities who use it. This is inspired by how New Zealand Samoan 'aiga (extended family) share resources — that they've found used or acquired through work — within their network in order to build ancillary structures that fit their requirements to hold large gatherings — faleta’avale (garage). When New Zealand architecture was hostile to their cultural needs, a community gathers to piece together an ideal space over time.
Through this design, the shared space of Northcote Nannies can be uniquely created through collaboration of cultures, a place that is significant in both aesthetic and function. Furthermore, as the Northcote Centre holds cultural significance for the elderly Asian population, this pavilion retains the original nature and comfort of the space as everything else in the Centre undergoes "redevelopment" for its new, incoming residents.
All the photos used in these collages were cut from photos of Asian grandparents' spaces, taken by my friends back in New Zealand while I was in Providence.
In order to account for any incidents that the elderly may not be able to handle, there will be a multilingual supervisor with childcare experience who'll be in charge of translation and signing in and out children.
Since this service will also benefit businesses by allowing parents to shop undisturbed for longer, the expenses of maintaining the programme will be left in the hands of the businesses at Northcote Centre.
The grandparents' job is mainly to interact with the children; this gives them an opportunity to share cultural games and activities. The children can also bring in objects to keep in the space and share with the elderly.
Although gentrification is already underway in Northcote, solidarity will always have its place in the community when it comes to tackling potential issues with the incoming people who may show hostility to the current residents. Furthermore, as the government inevitably makes more changes to neighbourhoods in favour of profitability, Northcote's minorities will hold power to uplift their voices. Through community work like Northcote Nannies, the community also teaches its future, children, the importance of building power and organising.
Special thanks to:
Paolo Cardini for his honest guidance throughout this project
My friends — Sophia, Sally, Angela, and Cindy — for the photos of their grandparents spaces (fig. 1)
My parents, for taking countless photos of Northcote Centre at varying angles
Vanessa Cole, for her wealth of knowledge on Auckland gentrification, and her keen perspective on the future of housing
Karamia Müller, for her architectural inspiration and cultural insight
fig. 1