The Murama Healing Space, Sydney Olympic Park
key ingredients for an Indigenous-led engagement at a site of urban greening and adaptive re-use
Authors
Helga Simon | John Hunter | Harriet Narwal
School of Communications, Society and Culture, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Abstract
This paper describes an Indigenous-led engagement between an Aboriginal community and a state government authority in the creation of an inter-tribal and inter-cultural public space. Heeding calls for examples of the praxis of Indigenous planning, we offer a case study of the Murama Healing Space to describe a set of ‘key ingredients’ (attitudinal and processual) for Indigenous-led engagement. Using an Indigenising research methodology, we draw on interviews with 13 key engagement stakeholders, a focus group, reviews of key documents and videographic records, photos and site observations. Key learnings for urban planning and Indigenous-government collaborations include an approach to urban greening and adaptive re-use centred on Aboriginal perspectives, place-based ethics of care and repair, and a situated and ontologically pluralistic response to urban planning. We think on the possibility of Indigenous-led planning of urban space as a means of fostering health and wellbeing, distinct from the neoliberal ways that provision of urban green space as a resource is inserted into urban landscapes, instead healing through and with urban Country.
- Reflects on the benefits of Indigenous-led planning at a site of urban greening and adaptive re-use.
- Provides a case study of the praxis of Indigenous-led engagement in a community-government collaboration
- Offers key learnings to planning practitioners to support Indigenous-led planning
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Publication:
This article was published in Australian Planner, 61 (2), 77–94.
Citation:
Simon, H., Hunter, J., & Narwal, H. (2025). The Murama Healing Space, Sydney Olympic Park: key ingredients for an Indigenous-led engagement at a site of urban greening and adaptive re-use. Australian Planner, 61 (2), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2025.2575949
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