Rookwood Cemetery is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.Credit: Steven Siewert
Owning a piece of land is an original way of buying, often giving migrants a sense of belonging and security. In my senior year of college, I told my mother that I had saved enough money to buy Contiki. She was surprisingly pleased, but then I found out that she thought Contiki was a newly cleared suburb in Sydney’s west.
Although there are now more than 66% of Sydney residents cremation optionCulturally and religiously diverse communities will always require burial space.
Study have found that in addition to religious requirements for burial, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities “visit cemeteries more often than their Anglo counterparts and prefer to be memorialized in cemeteries to maintain a sense of belonging”.
With cremation being a culturally inappropriate option for many, and scarcity driving the costs up, what are the alternatives?
Building new cemeteries is not a compelling political promise to win elections, nor does it benefit the affected community. Imagine coming up with an idea: “So you’ll have a lot of new neighbors, don’t worry, they’re dead, so it won’t be a group chat or house parties, but you How do you feel about the mourning guests?”
Maybe it’s time we shift our focus from thinking of graves as a final resting place to a final resting place. Perpetual ownership should become the exception rather than the rule.
Graves don’t have to be a “disposable” resource. Most East Asian and European countries have limited burial terms – this means you don’t have an indefinite lease on your land and it could be used by someone else soon at least 25 years after your death.
With the cost of living crisis worsening, future generations will be seen as “privileged” to inherit a burial ground.
The use of graveyards as a multi-purpose space is also supported by the majority of Australians. one year 2020 national survey found that two-thirds of us believe that cemeteries should not be used exclusively for memorials.
In the US and UK, green cemeteries are increasingly popular. Instead of confining the deceased in a concrete vault, the body is placed in a biodegradable container and buried in a graveyard for complete decomposition and return to the wild. Here, the material memorial is limited.
In places like Finland and Denmark, the cemetery is used for many different purposes such as jogging, walking the dog, even picnicking. It would not be objectionable but considered a legal form of exercise to dance on your father-in-law’s grave.
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Burial belt is another alternative. This involved burying the dead among the belts of newly planted vegetation on the edges of cities. The the architect behind the burial belt say they can create virtually limitless land for burial while still being eco-friendly.
The basic concept is to acquire meager grazing land and plant native trees instead of rows of gravestones. These burial spaces would be covered with forest, and eventually, individual cemeteries could come together into a continuous green “belt”.
The designers say it can be done while respecting religious and cultural practices. Locating a loved one will require GPS tracking and augmented reality instead of a traditional tombstone.
I’m too old now to finally be on that Contiki tour, but I’m also too young to worry about my death. I appreciate a bit of leadership here, so I can rest easy and worry about my body later.
