##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

Nitya Jaiswal
Radha Patel
Boopsie Maran

Abstract

In Thank You for Allowing Us To Speak, youth pedestrian activists Nitya Jaiswal (13) and Radha Patel (18) - supported by Auckland-based urban strategist, Boopsie Maran - describe images from their parallel traffic safety campaigns. 
Across Auckland, families feel the streets students must use between their home and the school gate are growing to be more hostile than ever before. Particularly, in the city centre, their environment lacks shade and safe separation from car traffic, and often includes crossing the entrance to a motorway. While the kids themselves understand that walking and using active modes is a sustainable route, they just wish their streets were made safer by adult drivers, often the ones speeding to work.
This photo essay highlights the inherent challenges faced by students on and off the streets—whether at a traffic circle or at local board offices sitting opposite elected members. Through captions and selected images, Jaiwal and Patel speak frankly to their intended adult audience and detail in their own words the “consequences, for [those] of you who are wondering.”

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

How to Cite
Jaiswal, N., Patel, R. and Maran, B. (2024) “Thank You for Allowing Us To Speak”, The Journal of Public Space, 9(2), pp. 265–280. doi: 10.32891/jps.v9i2.1823.
Section
Creative Content
Author Biographies

Nitya Jaiswal, Epsom Girls Grammar School

Hi, I am Nitya Jaiswal. I am currently a high school student at Epsom girls grammar school. I enjoy reading and have read books by various authors. Roald Dahl and Yuval Noah Harari are some of my favourite authors. I love painting, arts and crafts. In my spare time I love to knit and sew. Making things for people is also something I enjoy doing. Sustainability and volunteering are somethings I’m really passionate about and love. I like writing about topics I am interested in and write raps as well. I perform often (but of course I get nervous). I practice music, swimming and karate. The first award I won was the rap competition in Freemans Bay. The second award was an Auckland council award: Good Citizen Award. It all started off with Boopsie, a lady I was talking to, at swimming about how unsafe the roads were to Freemans Bay school. She said she was with in Auckland Council and would do something about it. Boopsie actually arranged for a group of engineers to walk with me to the school and recorded us along the way. Then she nominated me for the award and won the award herself!

Radha Patel, Western Springs College

Radha Patel advocated for a Pedestrian crossing for a busy road near her old High School (2019-2023). She has been an active as a Board of Trustees member, Student Representative (February 2022- October 2023); at Kelmarna Community Farm as General Volunteer + Hen Helper (January 2023 - present); at Generation Zero as General Member (July 2023 - present); at Auckland Council Young Leaders Sustainability Programme (2022 - 2023); at The Hive as Youth Representative (April 2021 - April 2022); at School Strike 4 Climate as General Member (2020-2021). She also volunteered for General and Local Body Elections- Doorknocker/phone banker (2020-present), for the Entrust Election (2021-2024), for sorting donations in the Auckland Anniversary floods (2023) and for SPCA as General Volunteer (March 2024 - Present)

Boopsie Maran, Places for Good

Boopsie is the founder and director of Places for Good, a collaborative of community advocates, planners, landscape architects, and artists, applying resilience and grit to projects across Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland - Aotearoa / New Zealand. Her approach to community activation and tactical urbanism places a significant priority on action-oriented partnerships with schools, urban precincts, and citizen-experts. Boopsie believes in the power of strategic, localised engagement, it is in the small neighbourhood actions and interactions that profound transformation materializes. The driving force behind her mahi (work) is a commitment to share her global experience and apply a fresh yet effective approach to implementation of local projects. She is a member of City Space Architecture, the Australasian Placemaking Forum, Women in Urbanism Aotearoa, Placemaking Aotearoa, PlacemakingX and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui ki Tamaki Makaurau Crisis Response and Strategy Ropu (Team). In 2020, Boopsie received a “highly commended” distinction from the Auckland Transport Travelwise Choices in the category of Superior Grassroots Action.

References

Auckland Council Live (2022) Minutes of of Transport and Infrastructure Committee meeting - Item 5, 01.12.2022. Available at: https://youtu.be/eJJGz_cePhA?si=-ZAev7uOsPW1tkkl

Barwig-Uin, J. (2022) Is it safe for kids to walk to school in New Zealand? Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqEgPNJqOEk

Maran, B. (2021) Come Walk with Me: Year 5 School STudent Brings Us Along on Her Daily Journey to School Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0s_AOu3Gl8