Te Waipounamu / South Island research programmes include integrated case studies of settlements and communities that are creating positive futures for themselves. Researchers are working directly with community stakeholders as they navigate change, determine their own aspirations, confront impediments to wellbeing, and search for solutions to local problems and enact sustainable future pathways. Research reveals practical approaches effective at creating real-world change in different community, settlement, and regional settings, as well as documenting examples where residents, local governments, community groups, and businesses have collaborated to create change. These experiences can be shared with and applied in other settlements and regions across Aotearoa New Zealand to help generate positive social change.

Ikaroa-Rawhiti/East Coast and Pōneke/Wellington research programmes are wide and varied and include Māori perspectives of regional regeneration in the Hawke's Bay and the value of sunshine in cities like Wellington - research which has been cited internationally. Research conducted in Wellington, but applicable nationwide, includes the impact of policies and procedures on the decline of affordable housing production - research which has been cited in numerous media articles in the last few years. We also investigate building solutions for those living with dementia, renting in retirement, urban employment growth in NZ’s smaller cities, virtual reality tools for user collaboration in urban design, the quality of life in Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, the impact of the Provincial Growth Fund on regional development in Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, and life when renting for older Māori in the Hawke's Bay.

Te Tai Hauāuru / Western North Island, including Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui, appears in several research programmes, including an analysis of the first year of the Provincial Growth Fund, which was designed for regional development interventions in regions with a strong primary resource sector base but which were seen as not achieving their full economic potential. Both Whanganui and Manawatū are examined by researchers investigating the potential of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and the provisions made for these in District Plans.

Places in Waiariki, including Tauranga, Whakatāne, Rotorua, and Taupo, have appeared in several BBHTC research programmes. Tauranga featured as one of three places that were rated high for both quality of life and quality of business in a BBHTC study, having leveraged their local strengths to make the town attractive to both firms and people. The research suggests there may be ideas here for other towns that wish to improve both their economic viability and their liveability. In Taupo, BBHTC researchers exploring water-sensitive urban design note the Taupo District Council Stormwater Strategy where natural Pumic Soils in gullies are used as infiltration devices, and low bunds and planted flax ‘baffles’ are used to detain stormwater to increase time for infiltration – a very cost effective infiltration practice. Other research on the economic geography of graduate destination choices in New Zealand feature cities throughout the region.

Hauraki-Waikato / North Western North Island, including Hamilton and Papakura, research programmes are concerned with both the aspirations of tangata whenua/ mana whenua groups for regional, local, and settlement regeneration and revitalisation; as well as the vulnerability of Māori communities given disproportionate social, economic, cultural, and environmental impacts on communities. BBHTC researchers are looking at the relationships between regeneration aspirations, regional planning, Māori design, and community outcomes; and Covid-19 recovery and related social, cultural, and economic impacts through a range of regional data, regional development activities, and Kaupapa Māori case studies. Research includes building an evidence base about the wellbeing of Māori in the regions, with a specific focus on mana whenua in Huntly, Pōkeno and Waharoa. Researchers also investigate a successful kaumātua housing project in Hamilton and current housing issues facing diverse Māori communities in the region.

Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland is New Zealand’s most diverse city and so too are our research programmes here. They include medium density living done well, ways and patterns of commuting, co-designing with young Aucklanders, cohousing and papakāinga, papakāinga in the 21st Century (building up), innovative resources for marae looking at housing programmes, the role of marae in helping the homeless whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau, urban regeneration and cohesion, as well as urban design, and how to increase urban mauri ora - social, cultural-ecological wellbeing.

Te Tai Tokerau / Northern Aoteoroa New Zealand, including Whangārei, research includes investigating papakāinga design principles and applications, with an investigation of papakāinga in Ahipara. In Kaikohe, the BBHTC's Rangatahi Ahu, James Berghan, Maia Ratana, and Jackie Paul, engaged with young Māori around their aspirations for and perceptions of housing. BBHTC research into building principles of communal tenure into contemporary housing developments examines socially-based tenures in Kaitaia as well as papakāinga provisions in the Whangārei District Plan (Whangārei District Council 2011) which allow for mixed-use community facilities as well as housing - recommending that there are potentially transferrable lessons and approaches here that could assist other councils.

Maori

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Designed by artist Rihana Te Nana, this map of Aotearoa represents a traditional Māori perspective of the country following the legend of Māui, who fished up the North Island/Te Ika-a-Māui (the fish of Māui), with the South Island/Te Waka-a-Māui (now Te Waipounamu) as his waka/canoe and Stewart Island/Rakiura his waka's anchor. It reminds us that while we are all human, sometimes we can have a different perspective.