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Melbourne's Wildscapes: a Critical Ethnography

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Melbourne's Wildscapes: a Critical Ethnography Melbourne’s Wildscapes: A Critical Ethnography Susan Bird BA (Hons), LLB (Hons) College of Law and Justice, Victoria University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January, 2014 ii Abstract This thesis develops a new theoretical understanding of Melbourne’s urban wildscapes through a discussion of a variety of playful practices that take place within them. The urban wildscape is an interdisciplinary concept that refers to marginal or neglected areas within augmented city spaces. I expand on the concept of the wildscape by linking it to the work of Henri Lefebvre and human geographers, arguing that the urban wildscape is not only visual, but can be experienced and produced by a city’s inhabitants. The thesis is interdisciplinary, drawing on cultural studies, law, urban planning and architectural theories. It examines the legislation, case law, and design principles that attempt to control behaviour within the city. The study finds evidence of internal regulation structures that are inherent within the practitioners’ use (and creation) of these wildscapes, and puts forward a case for a loosening of official regulation of such activities based on their contribution to an inclusive, vibrant, postmodern city. The thesis also makes a contribution to knowledge in interdisciplinary methodology. The analysis is achieved through critical ethnography. This involves self- reflexivity, critique and transformative redefinition, which is challenging when using data drawn in part from informant interviews. The critique allows a questioning of law’s certainties. Legal responses are often contradictory and ambiguous as administrators grapple to preserve Melbourne’s image as a creative arts hub and a safe city. Major conclusions reached are that urban wildscapes are not lawless zones, but spaces where complex systems of unofficial rules and regulations exist. These are spaces rich with possibilities. The thesis explores the benefits of the urban wildscape to Melbourne and argues that the future city must learn to embrace them iii iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors Dr Scott Beattie and Professor Neil Andrews from the College of Law and Justice and Professor David McCallum from the College of Arts. Uncle Albert Mullett was my mentor for the Indigenous content of the thesis. He is an Aboriginal elder and a Gunai/Kurnai man. Also thanks to my family, in particular Greta Bird, for her invaluable advice, Dr Jo Bird for her proof reading and editing skills, Ken Bird for his unwavering belief in me, and Uncle Lewis McCabe for his poem, ‘City’, that remained on my noticeboard throughout writing the thesis, and is reproduced here with his consent. My friends and informants inspired me with their playfulness and insights, and I thank in particular: Pat Stormont, MBug, Hallie, Ghetto Kitty, Mittons, Method, Quest, Dave, Oopsie, Donna, Mel, Kyle Magee, and many others too numerous to mention. Thanks are also due to the photographers whose work appears throughout the thesis with consent: Gavin Castle, Method, Nikki and the Messy 10 photographer. v List of Publications and Awards Parts of this thesis have been published in refereed journals and a book chapter as listed below: Susan Bird ‘Flash Mobs and Zombie Shuffles: Play in the Augmented City’ in Andy Bennett and Brady Robards (eds) Mediated Youth Cultures Palgrave Macmillan (in Press, 2014) Susan Bird and David Vakalis ‘Kyle Magee: Adbusting, Exclusion and the Urban Environment’ (2011) SCLR vol 14 Susan Bird ‘Aesthetics, Authority and the Outlaw of the Street’ (2009) Public Space: The Journal of Law and Social Justice Vol 3, Art 3, pp 1-24 Susan Bird and David Vakalis ‘The Right to the City’ (2008) Activating Human Rights and Diversity Refereed Conference Proceedings, Southern Cross University The thesis was completed with the support of a PhD scholarship from the College of Law and Justice, Victoria University. vi Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. v List of Publications and Awards ............................................................................................................. vi Prologue .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Melbourne’s Black History ................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 8 The ‘Problem’ of Urbanisation ........................................................................................................... 9 Key Ideas/Theorists .......................................................................................................................... 11 The Development of a Theory – Public Space to Wildscape......................................................... 11 Urban Wildscape ........................................................................................................................... 13 Transience and Permanence .......................................................................................................... 15 Henri Lefebvre – The Production of Space................................................................................... 16 Destabilising Law/Michel Foucault .............................................................................................. 20 Legal Geographies – Where Law meets Lefebvre ........................................................................ 21 Michel de Certeau ......................................................................................................................... 22 Playfulness .................................................................................................................................... 25 Anarchy ......................................................................................................................................... 27 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 30 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 32 Critical Ethnography ..................................................................................................................... 33 The Chapters ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Urbex............................................................................................................................................. 36 Rave .............................................................................................................................................. 37 Urban Gleaning ............................................................................................................................. 38 Graffiti/Street Art .......................................................................................................................... 39 Flash Mobs and Zombie Walks .................................................................................................... 39 vii Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 40 Chapter 1 - Urbex .................................................................................................................................. 42 Urban Exploration Defined ............................................................................................................... 45 Urban Exploration and the Urban Wildscape ................................................................................... 49 The Call of the Wild – The Appeal of the Hidden World ................................................................. 52 Responses to the Ambiguous Nature of Ruined Spaces ................................................................... 54 ‘The Promise of the Unexpected’ ..................................................................................................... 56 Temporality and Permanence............................................................................................................ 58 Urban Exploration and Alternative Histories .................................................................................... 59 Transforming Urban Wildscapes through Play ................................................................................. 61 Ludens the player, and the Law ........................................................................................................ 62 Risk ................................................................................................................................................... 68 Different experiences of space and the production of the urban wildscape ...................................... 70 ‘Yes, things do live in drains’ or ‘Nature’ and the Urban Wildscape ............................................... 71
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