Resumen de Remaking the places of belonging: arabic immigrants and the urban environment along Sydney´s Georges river
This paper reports on a study which has compared the environmental knowledges and practices which immigrants bring from their homelands with their experiences in their new homes. Arabic immigrants have come to Australia in significant numbers since WW2, from a range of countries and religions, including Christians and Muslims from Lebanon, Palestine and Syria and Mandaeans from Iraq. Many have settled in the industrial, working class suburbs along the northern bank of the Georges River, running through Sydney. These communities have sought out natural spaces in an overcrowded and politically-charged atmosphere. In particular, they have been frequent users of a series of parklands (including a National Park) along the river as well as the river itself for fishing, relaxation, jet ski and other power recreation. In the Georges River, Arabic Australians have drawn on their homeland environmental cultural knowledge and experiences but the expression of their expectations and strategies for relating to places has been strongly inflected by local environments and socio-political tensions. These immigrants can be seen to be "making" new "places" as they build attachment to their new homes by drawing on origin homeland environmental cultural knowledges and experiences in the constrained conditions of contemporary life.
