Nunavut Urban Futures: Vernaculars, Informality and Tactics (Research Note)
The Canadian Arctic, and Nunavut in particular, is one of the fastest-growing regions per capita in the country, raising the question as to what might constitute an emerging Arctic Indigenous urbanism. One of the cultural challenges of urbanizing Canadian North is that for most Indigenous peoples, p...
| Published in: | Études Inuit Studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones (CIÉRA)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7202/1081808ar http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1081808ar |
| Summary: | The Canadian Arctic, and Nunavut in particular, is one of the fastest-growing regions per capita in the country, raising the question as to what might constitute an emerging Arctic Indigenous urbanism. One of the cultural challenges of urbanizing Canadian North is that for most Indigenous peoples, permanent settlement, and its imposed spatial, temporal, economic, and institutional structures, has been antithetical to traditional ways of life and culture, which are deeply tied to the land and to seasons. For the past seventy-five years, architecture, infrastructure, and settlement form have been imported models serving as spatial tools of cultural colonization that have intentionally erased local culture and ignored geographic specificities. As communities in Nunavut continue to grow at a rapid rate, new planning frameworks are urgently needed. This paper outlines three approaches that could constitute the beginning of more culturally reflexive planning practices for Nunavut: (1) redefining the northern urban vernacular and its role in design; (2) challenging the current top-down masterplan by embracing strategies of informal urbanism; and (3) encouraging planning approaches that embrace territorial strategies and are more responsive to geography, landscape, and seasonality. L’Arctique canadien, et le Nunavut en particulier, est une région du pays qui jouit d’une des plus fortes croissances démographiques au Canada. De cette réalité résulte la question suivante : qu’est-ce qui pourrait constituer un urbanisme autochtone significatif dans l’Arctique ? Un des grands défis culturels auquel reste confrontée la population locale et l’urbanisation du Grand-Nord et consiste en un peuplement permanent qui exige l’imposition de structures spatiale, temporelle, économique et institutionnelle. Ces structures s’opposent aux modes de vie et à la culture traditionnelle Inuit qui sont intimement liés à la terre et aux réalités saisonnières. Depuis plus de trois quarts de siècle, les modèles d’urbanisation, d’architecture et ... |
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