The Aranui/Hampshire Paradox: Planning and the politics of street naming in Christchurch, New Zealand

Abstract

This discussion firstly explores how the streets in Aranui got their names. I then ask whether it matters how they got their names and I argue that the political and policy dimensions of street-naming are not merely historical questions; planners need to be prepared to revisit and reconfigure the identity of local neighbourhoods in partnership with local communities as circumstances and values change, particularly in “under-developed” locales.