FOREWORD

Fundamentally a safe and secure HOMEplaces outranks most of the social issues politicians invest time in. There are four imperatives for every human on the planet. Firstly, we all need sufficient air to breath, water to drink and food to eat. Secondly, given that we are social animals we need to be able to identify, and be identifiable, within our group/family/tribe and relative to others in the group. Thirdly, we need to procreate and that is genetically and ideologically; and fourthly, but not lastly, we need a safe and secure HOMEplace.

If any of these imperatives are not being met or are being compromised in some way, we are impoverished. When we are existing in a circumstance were these imperatives are fulfilled in abundance we are wealthy and secure. The very moment that this ceases to be we are measurably impoverished to the extent it is not the case.

In the Eurocentric Western World 'money' has become the default 'measure' for wealth and wellbeing. There remains an ever decreasing number of 'places' where money is not in the lexicon to communicate  relative wealth and wellbeing in a social context. If in Australia we can look at our history and heritage PREcolonisation then we might be able to imagine an exemplar social paradigm were 'money' was not 'the measure'. Indeed, as the evidence builds, the world is becoming increasingly aware that First Nation peoples were/are not impoverished. 

When 'housing' is envisaged as an 'investment' and consequently as a 'wealth marker' it is at once understandable and problematic. That is that the 'thinking' tends to ignore the concept  that a safe and secure HOMEplace  is a fundamental HUMANright as a consequence of what we might imagine as being the FORTHimperative.

When this manifests itself in PLACEmaking and CULTURALlandscaping the 'planning' that goes on around this in 'Planning Authorities' becomes somewhat warped and ONEdimensional. It is not too difficult to imagine that the trickle down is ultimately a mindset that leads to impoverishment all too often.

The HOUSINGdesign sensibilities at work in this, is all too often is driven by the 'INVESTMENTparadigm san be found at work in McBURBIA. Moreover it is a mindset that is by-and-large careless of climate change, environmental degradation, sustainability, etc. Likewise, the BUILTinfrastructure gets to be 'designed' drafspeople and engineers who do not have and are not required to have an an education or the skill sets relative to cultural sensitivities and sensibilities – based o geography, cultural production, anthropology etc.