Michael Smythe: Pacifica and exotica can grow together

A Chainsaw massacre? Ethnic cleansing? Valuing the indigenous while excluding the imported? These would be just causes for a righteous uprising of anti-PC common sense - if they were true. But it seems much of the debate is based on misunderstanding.

A modicum of research discovers an Auckland City Council press release dated December 16 that says: "Native planting, including mature nikau palm and cabbage trees, will be used to reintroduce species that would have grown in the valley and upper street. Some existing trees will be retained while others that are struggling will be removed. Large planter basins will allow a regular change of plants to match seasons and add colour and vitality."

Now that we have the issue in perspective, let's examine it more closely. This robust argument offers an example of how we are choosing to see ourselves in our own home and how we are choosing to present ourselves to the world with which we interact, through tourism and export, as a matter of survival.

The case for honouring our unique (horti) cultural roots can be argued on the fertile grounds of geographic authenticity and economic pragmatism.

Replacing exotic deciduous trees with evergreen native palms and trees is not an exercise in reinventing ourselves. It is a process for reclaiming a tiny bit of what was lost when the second wave of immigrants imposed British models on this landscape.

There is much to appreciate in what pioneers contributed to our heritage. But our desperate "home-groan" need to "me too" our elders and betters is a byproduct we would do well to outgrow.

Recognising ourselves as a country positioned in the Pacific enables our development as a maturing nation comfortable with its unique identity. It is also valued by those who trade with us and visit us.

Our economic growth depends on our ability to offer differentiated products and experiences - why would people want to come to the ends of the earth for more of the same?

How we choose to develop the main streets of major centres is but one opportunity to show how we're growing. We can become just another cloned city in an increasingly homogenised world, or we can express what makes us different.

The opposing case - for retaining what has grown to become the way things are - can be argued on the solid ground of evolution versus intelligent design, by a bunch of well-meaning bureaucrats and politicians who think they know what's best for us.

The evolutionary argument says our man-made environment should tell the truth about how our society has evolved.

Queen St was once a fertile valley. Trees were felled, hills flattened, buildings put up, roads paved. Then well-meaning bureaucrats decided to soften the concrete jungle with leafy trees.

It happened. Not only are these trees enjoyed in their own right, they exemplify quality imports that have added value to our evolving heritage.

But does evolution always offer the best outcomes? The size of the hole in the ozone layer evolved.

I am happy to go out on a liquidambar limb to allow the nikau palm and the cabbage tree to stand tall. I favour intelligently designed evolution demonstrating our continued transformation from a far-flung colonial outpost to a young Pacific nation that values its unique resources and confidently creates its own culture. We can be both creative and conservative.

Conserving some of the healthy exotics, on the grounds of customary use, while re-creating the right of natives trees to stand in their main street and not just in designated reserves, provides an avenue for resolution.

That, it seems, is the plan put forward by the council and supported by Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard and Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney.

Many people, with righteous indignation, seem to favour retaining only exotic trees in Auckland's main street as a rightful celebration of the enrichment of these lands through the second wave of immigration.

They might like to consider that, as with the exotics that will remain, our shared mainstream Western capitalist heritage is so deeply embedded in the structures and activities of Queen St that we don't recognise it as our cultural expression.

A little self-distinguishing re-balancing would be good for our cultural, social and thus economic health. It's the way to grow.

* Michael Smythe is a design strategy partner with CREATIONZ consultants.