What happens when a city runs out of room for its dead | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen
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0:16 - 0:20So, I have an overlooked
but potentially lucrative -
0:20 - 0:23investment opportunity for you.
-
0:23 - 0:26Over the past 10 years in the UK,
-
0:26 - 0:29the return on burial plots
has outperformed the UK property market -
0:29 - 0:32by a ratio of around three to one.
-
0:33 - 0:37There are private cemeteries being set up
with plots for sale to investors, -
0:37 - 0:40and they start at around 3,900 pounds.
-
0:40 - 0:43And they're projected to achieve
about 40 percent growth. -
0:44 - 0:48The biggest advantage is that this
is a market with continuous demand. -
0:51 - 0:53Now, this is a real proposition,
-
0:53 - 0:58and there are companies out there
that really are offering this investment, -
0:58 - 1:01but my interest in it is quite different.
-
1:01 - 1:03I'm an architect and urban designer,
-
1:03 - 1:05and for the past year and a half,
-
1:05 - 1:08I've been looking at approaches
to death and dying -
1:08 - 1:11and at how they've shaped our cities
and the buildings within them. -
1:12 - 1:16So in the summer,
I did my first exhibition -
1:16 - 1:18on death and architecture in Venice,
-
1:18 - 1:20and it was called "Death in Venice."
-
1:21 - 1:23And because death is a subject
-
1:23 - 1:26that many of us find quite
uncomfortable to talk about, -
1:26 - 1:28the exhibition was designed
to be quite playful - -
1:29 - 1:30my video's not running.
-
1:32 - 1:34Can we maybe get the video to start -
-
1:34 - 1:35oh, it is!? Great!
-
1:36 - 1:38So, because we find it
quite uncomfortable, -
1:38 - 1:41we designed the exhibition
to be quite playful, -
1:41 - 1:43so that people would
literally engage with it. -
1:44 - 1:47So one of our exhibits
was an interactive map of London -
1:47 - 1:50which showed just how much
of the real estate in the city -
1:50 - 1:52is given over to death.
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1:52 - 1:54As you wave your hand across the map,
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1:54 - 1:58the name of the piece of real estate --
the building or the cemetery -- -
1:58 - 1:59is revealed.
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1:59 - 2:02And those white shapes that you can see,
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2:02 - 2:05they're all of the hospitals and hospices
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2:05 - 2:08and mortuaries and cemeteries in the city.
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2:08 - 2:10In fact, the majority are cemeteries.
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2:10 - 2:15We wanted to show that, even though
death and burial are things -
2:15 - 2:17that we might not think about,
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2:17 - 2:20they're all around us, and they're
important parts of our cities. -
2:21 - 2:24So about half a million people
die in the UK each year, -
2:25 - 2:28and of those, around a quarter
will want to be buried. -
2:28 - 2:31But the UK, like many
Western European countries, -
2:32 - 2:34is running out of burial space,
-
2:34 - 2:36especially in the major cities.
-
2:36 - 2:40And the Greater London Authority
has been aware of this for a while, -
2:40 - 2:43and the main causes are population growth,
-
2:43 - 2:46the fact that existing
cemeteries are almost full. -
2:46 - 2:50There's a custom in the UK that graves
are considered to be occupied forever, -
2:51 - 2:54and there's also development pressure --
people want to use that same land -
2:54 - 2:57to build houses or offices or shops.
-
2:59 - 3:00So they came up with a few solutions.
-
3:00 - 3:04They were like, well, maybe we can
reuse those graves after 50 years. -
3:04 - 3:07Or maybe we can bury people,
like, four deep, -
3:07 - 3:10so that four people can be buried
in the same plot, -
3:10 - 3:12and we can make more efficient use
of the land that way, -
3:13 - 3:16and in that way, hopefully London
will still have space to bury people -
3:16 - 3:17in the near future.
-
3:20 - 3:24But, traditionally, cemeteries
haven't been taken care of -
3:24 - 3:25by the local authority.
-
3:25 - 3:29In fact, the surprising thing is that
there's no legal obligation -
3:29 - 3:32on anyone in the UK
to provide burial space. -
3:32 - 3:37Traditionally, it's been done
by private and religious organizations, -
3:37 - 3:40like churches and mosques and synagogues.
-
3:40 - 3:44But there's also occasionally
been a for-profit group -
3:44 - 3:46who has wanted to get in on the act.
-
3:46 - 3:49And, you know, they look at
the small size of a burial plot -
3:50 - 3:52and that high cost,
-
3:52 - 3:54and it looks like there's
serious money to be made. -
3:54 - 3:57So, actually, if you want to go out
and start your own cemetery, -
3:58 - 4:00you kind of can.
-
4:00 - 4:02There was this couple in South Wales,
-
4:02 - 4:05and they had a farmhouse
and a load of fields next to it, -
4:05 - 4:07and they wanted to develop the land.
-
4:07 - 4:09They had a load of ideas.
-
4:09 - 4:12They first thought about making
a caravan park, -
4:12 - 4:14but the council said no.
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4:14 - 4:16And then they wanted to make a fish farm
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4:16 - 4:17and again the council said no.
-
4:18 - 4:20Then they hit on the idea
of making a cemetery -
4:20 - 4:22and they calculated that by doing this,
-
4:22 - 4:25they could increase
the value of their land -
4:25 - 4:28from about 95,000 pounds
to over one million pounds. -
4:31 - 4:35But just to come back to this idea
of making profit from cemeteries, -
4:35 - 4:38like, it's kind of ludicrous, right?
-
4:38 - 4:41The thing is that the high cost
of those burial plots -
4:42 - 4:44is actually very misleading.
-
4:44 - 4:46They look like they're expensive,
-
4:46 - 4:49but that cost reflects the fact that
you need to maintain the burial plot -- -
4:50 - 4:53like, someone has to cut the grass
for the next 50 years. -
4:53 - 4:56That means it's very difficult
to make money from cemeteries. -
4:56 - 4:59And it's the reason that normally
they're run by the council -
4:59 - 5:01or by a not-for-profit group.
-
5:01 - 5:04But anyway, the council granted
these people permission, -
5:04 - 5:06and they're now trying
to build their cemetery. -
5:06 - 5:09So just to explain to you
kind of how this works: -
5:09 - 5:12If I want to build something in the UK,
-
5:12 - 5:14like a cemetery for example,
-
5:14 - 5:17then I have to apply
for planning permission first. -
5:17 - 5:20So if I want to build a new
office building for a client -
5:21 - 5:23or if I want to extend my home
-
5:23 - 5:27or, you know, if I have a shop
and I want to convert it into an office, -
5:27 - 5:29I have to do a load of drawings,
-
5:29 - 5:31and I submit them
to the council for permission. -
5:31 - 5:34And they'll look at things like
how it fits in the surroundings. -
5:35 - 5:37So they'll look at what it looks like.
-
5:37 - 5:41But they'll also think about things
like what impact is it going to have -
5:41 - 5:42on the local environment?
-
5:42 - 5:44And they'll be thinking about things like,
-
5:44 - 5:46is this thing going to cause pollution
-
5:46 - 5:48or is there going to be a lot of traffic
-
5:48 - 5:50that wants to go to this thing
that I've built? -
5:51 - 5:52But also good things.
-
5:52 - 5:55Is it going to add local services
like shops to the neighborhood -
5:55 - 5:57that local people would like to use?
-
5:58 - 6:01And they'll weigh up the advantages
and the disadvantages -
6:01 - 6:02and they'll make a decision.
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6:03 - 6:07So that's how it works if I want
to build a large cemetery. -
6:07 - 6:09But what if I've got a piece of land
-
6:09 - 6:12and I just want to bury
a few people, like five or six? -
6:13 - 6:17Well, then -- actually, I don't need
permission from anyone! -
6:18 - 6:22There's actually almost no regulation
in the UK around burial, -
6:22 - 6:26and the little bit that there is,
is about not polluting water courses, -
6:26 - 6:28like not polluting rivers or groundwater.
-
6:29 - 6:32So actually, if you want to go
and make your own mini-cemetery, -
6:32 - 6:33then you can.
-
6:33 - 6:36But I mean, like -- really,
who does this? Right? -
6:38 - 6:42Well, if you're an aristocratic family
and you have a large estate, -
6:42 - 6:44then there's a chance that you'll
have a mausoleum on it, -
6:44 - 6:46and you'll bury your family there.
-
6:47 - 6:49But the really weird thing
-
6:49 - 6:53is that you don't need to have
a piece of land of a certain size -
6:53 - 6:56before you're allowed
to start burying people on it. -
6:56 - 6:58And so that means that, technically,
-
6:58 - 7:01this applies to, like, the back garden
of your house in the suburbs. -
7:01 - 7:03(Laughter)
-
7:04 - 7:07So what if you wanted
to try this yourself at home? -
7:08 - 7:12Well, there's a few councils
that have guidance on their website -
7:12 - 7:13which can help you.
-
7:13 - 7:15So, the first thing that they tell you
-
7:15 - 7:19is that you need to have a certificate
of burial before you can go ahead -- -
7:19 - 7:22you're not allowed to just murder people
and put them under the patio. -
7:22 - 7:24(Laughter)
-
7:26 - 7:29They also tell you that you need to keep
a record of where the grave is. -
7:29 - 7:32But that's pretty much it
for formal requirements. -
7:32 - 7:35Now, they do warn you that
your neighbors might not like this, -
7:35 - 7:39but, legally speaking, there's almost
nothing that they can do about it. -
7:39 - 7:44And just in case any of you
still had that profit idea in your mind -
7:44 - 7:46about how much those burial plots cost
-
7:46 - 7:49and how much money
you might be able to make, -
7:49 - 7:52they also warn that it might cause
the value of your house -
7:52 - 7:53to drop by 20 percent.
-
7:54 - 7:56Although, actually, it's more likely
-
7:56 - 7:59that no one will want to buy
your house at all after that. -
8:00 - 8:02So what I find fascinating about this
-
8:02 - 8:07is the fact that it kind of sums up
many of our attitudes towards death. -
8:08 - 8:12In the UK, and I think that the figures
across Europe are probably similar, -
8:12 - 8:15only about 30 percent of people
have ever talked to anyone -
8:15 - 8:17about their wishes around death,
-
8:17 - 8:19and even for people over 75,
-
8:19 - 8:22only 45 percent of people
have ever talked about this. -
8:23 - 8:25And the reasons that
people give... you know, -
8:25 - 8:27they think that their death is far off
-
8:27 - 8:30or they think that they're going
to make people uncomfortable -
8:30 - 8:32by talking about it.
-
8:32 - 8:33And you know, to a certain extent,
-
8:33 - 8:37there are other people out there
who are taking care of things for us. -
8:37 - 8:41The government has all this regulation
and bureaucracy around things -
8:41 - 8:43like burying a death, for example,
-
8:43 - 8:45and there's people like funeral directors
-
8:45 - 8:48who devote their entire
working lives to this issue. -
8:48 - 8:49But when it comes to our cities
-
8:49 - 8:52and thinking about how
death fits in our cities, -
8:52 - 8:55there's much less regulation
and design and thought -
8:56 - 8:58than we might imagine.
-
8:58 - 9:00So we're not thinking about this,
-
9:00 - 9:03but all of the people we imagine
are thinking about it -- -
9:03 - 9:05they're not taking care of it either.
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9:05 - 9:06Thank you.
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9:06 - 9:09(Applause)
- Title:
- What happens when a city runs out of room for its dead | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen
- Description:
-
"If you want to go out and start your own cemetery" in the UK, says Alison Killing, "you kind of can." She thinks a lot about where we die and are buried -- and in this talk, the architect and TED Fellow offers an eye-opening economic and social perspective on an overlooked feature of our towns and cities: the cemetery. Speaking specifically to UK laws, she unpacks the fascinating, sometimes funny, often contradictory laws about where you can be buried.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:24
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for An uncommon proposition -- an investment in death | Alison Killing | TEDxGroningen |