A divided city (divided by settler colonialism, that is): Justine Skilling, John Reid, Steve Matthewman, ‘A tale of two cities: urban greening projects in a settler society’, Settler Colonial Studies, 2025 | settler colonial studies blog

A divided city (divided by settler colonialism, that is): Justine Skilling, John Reid, Steve Matthewman, ‘A tale of two cities: urban greening projects in a settler society’, Settler Colonial Studies, 2025

05Dec25

Abstract: We are witnessing an urban green turn. Urban greening is frequently proposed as a solution to numerous issues ensuing from this. However, as with other settler societies, urban greening in New Zealand occurs on unceded Indigenous lands. It must contend with the foundational violences upon which its cities are built and be developed as rangatiratanga [chiefly authority, sovereign] space. We explore such challenges via two case studies in the country’s two largest cities: (1) Ngahere regeneration in Ngā Hau Māngere, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), which seeks to create forests and food gardens in the Local Board with the lowest tree canopy in the city; (2) The Residential Red Zone in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), which resulted from damage from the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. It is arguably the largest example of managed retreat in an urban setting globally. We argue that the only viable urban greening governance frameworks are those which involve substantive power-sharing with mana whenua [people with customary authority over the land], that de-prioritise settler amenity and environmental service functions in favour of Indigenous cultural resurgence, and which centre cultural integrity, historical redress, and spiritual relationships to place.

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