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"This is an Indigenous city; why don't we see it?" Indigenous urbanism and spatial production in Winnipeg.

Authors :
Nejad, Sarem
Walker, Ryan
Macdougall, Brenda
Belanger, Yale
Newhouse, David
Source :
Canadian Geographer. Sep2019, Vol. 63 Issue 3, p413-424. 12p.
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

This paper examines indigeneity and spatial production in the city of Winnipeg, home to the largest urban Indigenous population in Canada. Using data from semi‐structured interviews with Indigenous inhabitants, municipal officials, and Indigenous leaders, this paper argues that the right to the city and to difference are deradicalized for urban Indigenous communities. Indigenous engagement in processes of everyday urbanism occurs through broadly participatory public consultation and through mechanisms designed by City Hall to communicate with Indigenous communities about municipal initiatives. To arrive at a more robust and meaningful Indigenous urban visibility in Canadian cities, spatial production and programming mechanisms will need to be reconstituted. Guided by the perspectives of Indigenous participants, this paper considers some of what Indigenous urbanism might yet entail. Fulfilling coexistence and reconciliation is dependent on enabling Indigenous urbanism to guide the course taken in urban governance, spatial planning, and the built environment of Canadian cities. Key Messages: Contemporary planning and design does not recognize Indigenous social, cultural, and symbolic presence in cities and continues to marginalize Indigenous peoples from urban life.Indigenous peoples expect to play an unmediated role in shaping the sociality and spatiality of the city, building cultural density through its institutions and practices.Enabling Indigenous urbanism begins with creating a material and discursive sense of place for Indigenous inhabitants in the everyday lived experience of Canadian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00083658
Volume :
63
Issue :
3
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Canadian Geographer
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
138672556
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12520