NEWS
Water Sensitive Urban Design ‘desperately needed’
8 February 2023
At the end of January, an “atmospheric river” deluged Auckland, causing wide-spread flooding and a State of Emergency in the region.
Although the rain was an unprecedented record setter, how has the city performed? When the water recedes, are there lessons to be learned and changes to be made in how we create our urban environments? Do our stormwater systems need revising in the face of a changing climate? Do we need to radically change our thinking about non-porous hard surfaces that force water into surface run-off? Should councils be mandating Water Sensitive Urban Design on all new developments and actively retrofitting existing infrastructure to try and prevent the events that occurred in Auckland from happening again?
A team of researchers supported by BBHTC say we need to shift our thinking and start adopting Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) now, as extreme events such as that in Auckland are likely to become more frequent.
Dr Robyn Simcock says the large, tree-filled raingardens in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter show how to absorb excess run-off water from impermeable surfaces. There are a myriad of ways to help create ‘sponge’ cities such as dual use of low-lying parks to hold runoff, roadside raingardens to reduce flow into guttering, trees beside roads, greenroofs, and reducing impermeable surfaces. Photo: Robyn Simcock, Landcare Research.
The city as laboratory: What post-quake Christchurch is teaching us about urban recovery and transformation
3 February 2023
In this The Conversation article by BBHTC researchers Kelly Dombroski and Amanda Yates, the pair explore post-quake urban recovery in Ōtautahi Christchurch. In the aftermath of a series of earthquakes that devastated the city 12 years ago, impromptu and transitional organisations kickstarted the city’s recovery.
On the many vacant sites in the demolished city, they supported pop-up shops, installations and events to keep city life and urban wellbeing going during the slow post-quake rebuild.
Such transitional urban wellbeing efforts are just as relevant elsewhere as cities experience the impacts of climate chaos and wider ecological decline, and are subject to shocks, both acute and chronic.
Cities are under increasing pressure to shift to circular, zero-carbon and ecological living systems to support social, cultural and ecological wellbeing. Researchers studying urban system change have identified key areas of action for holistic wellbeing.
The Commons in Christchurch is now a regular space for markets and events. Photo: Gap Filler, CC BY-ND.
Huritanga: 10 years of transformative placemaking – outdoor public exhibition
15 September 2022
When: 13 – 29 September 2022
Where: Cashel St Mall (between Oxford Tce & Colombo St), Christchurch
People of Ōtautahi – Christchurch and anyone visiting the area from 13 – 29 September 2022, Life in Vacant Spaces invites you along to celebrate this decade of 10 years of Life in Vacant Spaces (LiVS), come and have a stroll down Cashel St Mall and read all about LiVS over the years!
Funded by Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities, University of Canterbury, and Auckland University of Technology, the exhibition features work by Amanda Yates, Hannah Watkinson, Rachael Shiels, and Kelly Dombroski.
Lydia Hannah Thomas, Project Coordinator from Life in Vacant Spaces and Dr Reuben Woods (left), Director of Watch This Space getting the container ready. Photo: LiVS.
BBHTC wellbeing compass aids in Bill submission
27 January 2022
In late November, Te Tatau o Te Arawa, which represents Te Arawa whānui, made a submission on the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
In the submission Te Tatau called for the Bill to be wellbeing and urban regeneration-led to allow for wider positive effect. Te Tatau o Te Arawa is a research partner in Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities Urban Wellbeing – Ngā Kāinga Ora programme. In making the submission on the Bill they referred to the Te Tatau Mauri Ora Housing Development Wellbeing Compass co-created with AUT’s He Puna Ora Urban Regeneration Lab as part of the BBHTC Kāinga-Ora Urban Wellbeing programme. The compass tool is used to create a holistic social, cultural, and ecological wellbeing model for wellbeing-led urban planning and development.
Manahautū of Te Tatau, Jude Pani, says they would like to see that any changes to allowances for building densification be undergirded by mātauranga Māori and mauri ora (wellbeing of tangata and taiao).
“While we are notionally in support of the Bill, we want to see it done right. To Te Arawa whānui that means making sure that higher density developments have the inclusion of urban and peri-urban papakāinga and whenua Māori.
“Mauri ora – wellbeing – created by the built environment matters, and has been ignored for too long. The compass is a valuable tool to remind us of the different aspects of wellbeing we should be considering in building developments.”
Christchurch Conversations: Towards 2030
29 November 2021
What if you could get everything you need for daily living within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home? Is it worth getting an EV? How can we keep our homes comfortable and the country running while reducing emissions? How do we make homes and buildings that are suitable to our changing climate?
These were just some of the questions raised in Christchurch Conversations: Towards 2030, a series of five events this year presented by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making, in collaboration with Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities Urban Wellbeing – Ngā Kāinga Ora programme and the Christchurch City Council (CCC), exploring how the city can achieve its climate goals and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The talks are now all available on Te Pūtahi’s YouTube channel.
The free events took place in-person and online, and featured experts, businesses, individuals, and community groups who shared their knowledge and experiences on the given topic with the audience.
Christchurch locals shared their experiences of having easy access to the things they need for day-to-day living, by bike or on foot. Photo: Robyn Simcock, Landcare Research/BBHTC.
Kāhu ki Rotorua: Compass helps define road to holistic papa kainga – Te Tatau me te taonga kapehu
17 November 2021
This New Zealand Herald/Rotorua Daily Post article includes an interview with BBHTC researcher Dr Amanda Yates (Ngati Rangiwewehi, Ngati Whakaue, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Rongowhakaata) Associate Professor at AUT and Leader of BBHTC’s Kainga Ora – Urban Wellbeing programme about the team’s Compass Tool.
“It’s a collaboration between AUT, Canterbury, with Te Tatau as our key research partner, and SCION and Manaaki Whenua partners also, we are looking at how to increase urban mauri ora – social, cultural-ecological wellbeing. It’s really important at this time because of the climate emergency, but also because we’re in a biodiversity emergency also, a 6th mass extinction event. At the same time there are these issues around the pandemic, around access to affordable homes, energy, food etc.”
Te Tatau o Te Arawa Housing Development Wellbeing Compass. Image: Te Tatau o Te Arawa
A mobile sense of place: Methodology to study urban cycleways
27 July 2021
A Building Better research team has developed a user-centred methodology for collecting, categorising, visualising, and interpreting data on urban cycling infrastructure and related cycling events using smart phones to measure accelerometer, gyroscope, speed, and global positioning (GPS), and 360-degree cameras to record audio and visual data.
The team has collected data on eight recently built major cycle routes in Christchurch, and they are now using the data from one of the routes to examine future research opportunities and potential applications of the methodology to support efforts to advance the planning, design, and implementation of urban cycleways around New Zealand.
Lead researcher Dr Andreas Wesener, a senior lecturer in Urban Design at the School of Landscape Architecture at Lincoln University, says the promotion of active transport, including cycling, is an important aspect of sustainable urban design.
Smartphone with attached Giroptic iO 360-degree camera. Photo: Dr Andreas Wesener.
Food for people in place – building resilient food distribution systems
18 May 2021
Aotearoa New Zealand is a massive food producer. We are in the enviable position of being one of the few countries that can be self-sufficient as well as contribute to global food needs. With 45% of New Zealand’s arable land dedicated to food production, as well as supplying the domestic market, food producers annually export enough food to feed 20 million people.
Despite this abundance of nutrition, food security is not guaranteed in our country. The food price index has steadily risen, with fresh fruit and vegetables in particular becoming increasingly expensive. New Zealand has increasing issues of socio-economic inequalities which sees some people having insufficient resources to purchase or access food. Currently, almost one in five children (19.0%) live in severe to moderately food insecure households, while food surplus is dumped in skips.
Recent research led by Building Better Researchers Dr Kelly Dombroski and Gradon Diprose (University of Canterbury and Manaaki Whenua), shows that the COVID-19 global pandemic poses significant challenges to food security, particularly with regards to food access, availability, and stability.
Photo: Mark Stebnicki, Pexels.
Building the foundations of collaboration: From housing development to community renewal
31 March 2021
Collaborative governance and planning are usually seen as an improvement on technocratic “top-down” approaches, but they can be criticized for exacerbating power imbalances, failing to be inclusive and/or impartial, and for ignoring historical conflict. A team of Building Better Researchers Drs Zohreh Karaminejad, Suzanne Vallance, and Roy Montgomery from Lincoln University investigated how strong foundations for collaborative housing-renewal may be built to address these concerns and facilitate broader community-renewal ambitions.
State houses in Aranui, such as this multi-unit building, were designed without consultation and with reduced cost in mind. The dwellings caused widespread dissatisfaction because of the lack of privacy and limited private outdoor spaces. They were monotonous and the proximity of several multi-unit buildings promoted territorial gang wars and created safety issues for other residents. Some have been replaced, some still remain, and they remain unpopular. Photo: Zohreh Karaminejad, Lincoln University.
BBHTC researcher profile: Gradon Diprose
5 February 2021
Gradon Diprose has a curious mind, he has always questioned the world around him. Now he is a geographer working as a social science researcher at Manaaki Whenua—Landcare Research. He is a key researcher in Building Better’s Huritanga research team and was a key researcher on the Delivering Urban Wellbeing project. He is passionate about communicating solutions to social and environmental issues in an accessible way.
BBHTC early career researcher: Gradon Diprose. Photo: Royal Society Te Apārangi.
2020: A Year without Public Space
1 February 2021
2020: A Year without Public Space under the COVID-19 Pandemic is a webinar series which includes presentations and moderation by BBHTC Urban Wellbeing researcher Manfredo Manfredini, Associate Professor in Achitecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.
The videos are now available on the BBHTC website.
The World is temporarily closed. Photo: Edwin Hooper, Unsplash.
Contextual brief for Phase II of the Urban Wellbeing & Development Research Programme
9 April 2020
BBHTC researchers Rita Dionisio, from the University of Canterbury, and Amanda Yates, from AUT, have published a brief for co-ideation workshops, as part of the investment signal development process for Phase II of the Urban Wellbeing & Development Research Programme.
In a series of workshops in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch Phase I BBHTC Urban Wellbeing & Development researchers and other stakeholders gathered to contribute to an urban wellbeing ‘big picture’ ideation and mind-mapping process.
Co-design with young Aucklanders
2 March 2020
A team of BBHTC researchers say there is widespread support for the idea of including of children in urban planning, but inertia because of lack of knowledge on how to go about it.
To address this knowledge gap, the researchers explored effective methods and processes to engage with children in public space design in two public space co-design projects – the Eastern Viaduct on Auckland’s waterfront and the regeneration of the Puhinui Stream in South Auckland.
The researchers say in each case study, on and off-site workshops enabled children to experience and explore the physical landscapes, learn about their history, ecology, and current use.
Urban regeneration and social cohesion
28 January 2020
Following the transfer of 2,700 Glen Innes social housing properties from Housing New Zealand to the Tamaki Regeneration Company (TRC), a collaboration between Housing New Zealand and Auckland Council, the area is in a state of flux as the aging housing stock on large sections are replaced. During the on-going development, tenants are displaced, causing stress for many low-income families who have lived in the area for decades.
A study by BBHTC researchers Ella Henry, Diane Menzies, and Jacqueline Paul, presented at the recent State of Australian Cities Conference in Perth, found that the relationship between TRC and community organisations dealing with the breakdown and replacement of this community has been pivotal in ameliorating some of those stressors.
Home Fires event. Photo: Dr Ella Henry.
Disruptive mobility and the potential for land reclamation
14 November 2019
If shared electric autonomous vehicles (SEAVs) become the dominant transport system in the near future; the transition from the current private car ownership system will potentially reduce the demands for car parking, and the existing open and covered car parking can be reclaimed.
This land reclamation could provide a great opportunity for planners, urban designers, and other decision makers to reuse the reclaimed lands for their required urban needs, such as public space, commercial, and also residential buildings.
A recently published working paper by Building Better Urban Wellbeing researcher Mohsen Mohammadzadeh, from the University of Auckland, investigates the potential for land reclamation based on the deployment of disruptive mobility in Auckland’s CBD and in ten other Auckland metropolitan areas.
In a future where carparks become underused, land reclamation could provide a great opportunity for planners, urban designers, and other decision makers.
Soft infrastructure for hard times
6 November 2019
It’s often said that the journey is as important as the destination; this turns out to be true also in disaster recovery, where a Building Better Urban Wellbeing team writes that the recovery planning process is as important as the planning objective.
In a recently published report, Soft infrastructure for hard times, the research team, Suzanne Vallance, Sarah Edwards, and Zohreh Karaminejad, from Lincoln University, and David Conradson, from the University of Canterbury, write that “a focus on the journey can promote positive outcomes in and of itself through building enduring relationships, fostering diverse leaders, developing new skills and capabilities, and supporting translation and navigation. Collaborative planning depends as much upon emotional intelligence as it does technical competence, and we argue that having a collaborative attitude is more important than following prescriptive collaborative planning formulae. Being present and allowing plenty of time are also key.”
Waimakariri District Council staff create interest in a draft long-term plan. Image: Waimakariri District Council facebook.
Designing walkable neighbourhoods
18 October 2019
Having a neighbourhood where the residents are free to walk has wide-ranging benefits for the community and the individual – from the health benefits of physical activity; reducing the use of cars, which can contribute to reducing both noise and environmental pollution; enhancing stronger social connections, as a result of pedestrian encounters; to reducing social exclusion by enabling neighbourhood access for those without private transport.
A Building Better Urban Wellbeing team, Patricia Austin, Jacquelyn Collins, Kate Scanlen, and Polly Smith, have been researching what makes a great walkable neighbourhood, including whether those neighbourhoods allow for a diverse range of pedestrians.
Are suburban neighbourhoods meeting the needs of children for independent mobility and access to play?
Green infrastructure in water-sensitive urban design fundamental
27 September 2019
Urban areas typically alter landscapes from vegetated ground, which is able to absorb water, to a series of interconnected hard surfaces that result in large quantities of storm-water runoff scouring our waterways. In addition, this run-off can be polluted with contaminants such as metals, motor oil, garden pesticides, litter, and sediment.
This run-off requires management, but the Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) team says this isn’t just a matter of guttering in the right place and piping the excess straight to waterways, but also aesthetically pleasing urban lay-outs that promote water re-use and enhance urban liveability and human wellbeing.
Team leader Robyn Simcock, from Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, says they’ve found that Green Infrastructure (GI), the use of a network of natural systems involving soil and vegetation, used in WSUD is fundamental to achieving wellbeing – rather than just being ‘nice to have’.
Christchurch roadside raingarden and densely planted trees provide beauty, shade, and WSUD. Photo: Robyn Simcock, Landcare Research.
Cultural Ambassador – The Built Environment
11 September 2019
Dr Rebecca Kiddle, from Victoria University’s School of Architecture, discusses the concept of the ‘third place’ on Radio New Zealand’s Night show. Suburbanites are increasingly seeking greater opportunities for place attachment, community cohesion and identity, often despite the lack of any public or visible community space to facilitate these actions.
Without this public urban provision, the community has flourished in unexpected spaces. So, where do we dance?
Rebecca and her colleague Chantal Mawer, from Victoria University’s School of Geography, Environment and Earth Science, have had their research on suburban shopping malls as spaces for community health and wellbeing published online this month (ahead of print) by the Journal of Urban Design. Click the link below for a PDF copy.
Where do we dance? Photo: Rebecca Kiddle.
Dr Amanda Yates Lead Researcher Mauri Ora and Urban Wellbeing Project
26 August 2019
Waatea News interviews Dr Amanda Yates about her research for Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities (BBHTC) Ko Nga wa Kainga hei Whakamahorahora National Science Challenge. New Zealand could be positioned to lead the world by developing a first-ever Mauri ora or “all-of-life” urban wellbeing data tool and framework, according to Amanda’s recently published research.
For more radio interviews and podcasts check out our podcasts and audio page.
Radical rethink of our cities will improve urban wellbeing
15 August 2019
New Zealand could be positioned to lead the world by developing a first-ever Mauri ora or “all-of-life” urban wellbeing data tool and framework, according to the latest findings from Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities (BBHTC) He Kāinga Whakamana Tangata, Whakamana Taiao National Science Challenge.
As high energy users and generators of planet-warming carbon emissions, cities are well-placed to take a lead in strategising for and implementing zero-carbon transitions that utilise existing technologies.
“For Māori, ora is wellbeing and Mauri is the integrative life force that connects it all – the rocks, rivers, trees, people, etc. We need to develop our cities in ways where humans are viewed as part of the environment – one where climate, biodiversity, transport, and housing infrastructure are all working in harmony to take care of ecological wellbeing,” explains lead researcher of the Mauri ora and urban wellbeing project, Dr Amanda Yates from Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
A crowd gathers to examine E Amio Haere Ana te Ao I Te Ra | Circling The Sun – Revolution Cycle installation part of Te Mana o Te Ra | The Power of the Sun solar-power, zero-carbon energy workshops and installation at the Auckland City Library, Ngā Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau. Photo: Amanda Yates.
Understanding Place: Red Zone Stories
15 August 2019
Everyone has a different story to tell about the Red Zone surrounding the Ōtākaro Avon River. Building Better researchers from the Understanding Place research project invite you to share your stories using “Red Zone Stories”, a website and app designed at the University of Canterbury.
Red Zones Stories is a space for you to record and share your stories, memories, and hopes for the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor, whether you grew up here, have a family connection, or have ideas about how places here should look in the future.
The Red Zone Stories App is downloadable from Google Play and The App Store. With the app, a user can record their stories via text, photograph, video, etc. for an interactive map on the redzonestories.nz website. There are already many photos and videos available on the map, showing what the red zone now means to people. This information helps researchers record the different ways local residents and manawhenua respond to this place. It will also help urban planners understand what parts of the red zone are important to people and why. The research is independent from Regenerate Christchurch, but has been developed in consultation with them.
Jenny and Sam in the Red Zone. Photo: Red Zone Stories/ University of Canterbury.
Hobsonville Point: Living at higher density
26 July 2019
How do the residents of Auckland’s Hobsonville Point – New Zealand’s largest master-planned residential development, feel about living at higher density? That’s the focus of a new report recently released by Building Better’s Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods research team.
Living at higher density now has a number of drivers that includes urban planning for compact development, the efficient use of land, and achieving more sustainable urban forms. In Auckland, there is an increasing proportion of higher density attached housing being delivered: over half of residential development in Auckland now involves attached housing types such as terraces and apartments. Does this change towards New Zealanders living at higher density lead to necessary housing satisfaction on the part of residents, and deliver wellbeing? This is particularly of interest where living in lower density suburban housing in the past has been the norm.
Hobsonville Point. Photo: Errol Haarhoff
Better places to live: community and housing
15 July 2019
Lead researcher Dr Rebecca Kiddle is mentioned in this Talk Wellington article for her research “investigating (amongst other things) the extent to which modern Ao-NZ urban form systemically prioritises private space in our suburbs, cities and towns. Turns out we do this a lot, and to the detriment of the public realm and common spaces.”
The article says, “This is bad news for us collectively because it’s common and public spaces, third places that let us connect with other humans outside our household, ‘bumping into’ spaces where you can have regular, low-stakes interactions with people. ‘Bumping into’ spaces in modern towns let us quietly expand our ‘circle of empathy’ to others beyond those we select to invite to our private space (who are inevitably A Lot Like Me).”
Dr Rebecca Kiddle. Photo: Desna Whaanga-Schollum.
Where do we dance? Planning social spaces in the suburbs
9 July 2019
The UK has its pubs. In China, people go out at dusk to exercise in the streets. So, where do Kiwis go to socialise in the suburbs?
In this NZ Local Government Magazine article by Building Better researcher Rebecca Kiddle from Victoria University of Wellington, she writes that research shows a significant gap in planning for neutral ‘bumping spaces’. She presented her findings to date at the recent NZPI Conference in Napier.
“Aotearoa New Zealand suburbs are seemingly the spatial underdog of our towns and cities. As part of the research programme Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities I am leading a project called Where Do We Dance? with dance being the metaphor for socialising, making friends and building community. The project asks where, physically, community happens in this country and how might we improve the way we design and plan our built environments to better serve the making of communities.”
Where do we dance? A street mural in Naenae, Lower Hutt. Photo: Rebecca Kiddle.
Urban design can’t come from the top down
9 July 2019
In this Ideasroom feature on Newsroom, Building Better researchers Marc Aurel Schnabel and Shuva Chowdhury from Victoria University of Wellington write about their BBHTC research project on using virtual reality tools for user collaboration in urban design, using a public-space development in Karori, Wellington, as a test case.
“Designing an urban environment involves confronting complex physical and social issues such as cultural contexts, economic situations, regulatory systems and personal and community preference.
“The design process should take these issues into account, but most of the design methods currently used by urban design professionals are ‘top down’ approaches where the designer, rather than users, dictates the process and outcomes.”
One of the obstacles preventing a better relationship between designers and citizens is the lack of tools available to visualise the space through the planning process. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom.
Field days in ‘meanwhile spaces’
10 June 2019
From 1 March to 31 May 2019, the Building Better Mauriora and Urban Wellbeing team led a South Auckland-based wellbeing-focused co-design project with AUT sustainability students, local communities, The Southern Initiative, Healthy Families, Panuku, and the Auckland Teaching Gardens at the Papatoetoe Food Hub ‘meanwhile space’. The project was projects aligned with the Papatoetoe Food Hub principles of manaakitanga (hospitality, kindness) and whanaungatanga (making of relationships, connection). They employed a range of tactics to improve local mauri – the integrated wellbeing of people and place – through innovative engagement with under-utilised ‘meanwhile spaces’.
A field day for primary children designed by the Mauri ora and Urban Wellbeing research team: An AUT Sustainability Studio co-design, holistic wellbeing, project with local communities, the Southern Initiative, Healthy Families, Panuku, Auckland Teaching Gardens, and AUT sustainability students at the Papatoetoe Food Hub ‘meanwhile space’. Diagram: Angelica Wong, Dione Tay, Ken Tong, Poppy Schubert, and Tegan Jade Martin.
Biodiversity can enhance urban wellbeing
28 May 2019
The Building Better Mauriora and Urban Wellbeing team were at Auckland’s Ōtara Library over the Easter school holidays presenting urban wellbeing research news, leading biodiversity activations, and discussing how a more biodiverse Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland could enhance urban wellbeing.
Te Mauri o te Kererū ko te Mauri o nga Tāngata
A wellbeing activation called Te Mauri o te Kererū ko te Mauri o nga Tāngata (The Wellbeing of the Kereru is the Wellbeing of People) brought together children’s art workshops with three works exploring how birds, trees, and human lives are connected together and interdependent.
Participants in the sound workshop at Auckland’s Ōtara Library answer the question “What sound does a kererū make?”.
Mauriora and Urban Wellbeing
Solar-power, zero-carbon energy workshops
23 May 2019
The Building Better Mauriora and Urban Wellbeing team were at Auckland Library over the Easter school holidays presenting urban wellbeing research news, leading solar-power activations, and discussing how we might transform Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to a zero-carbon city.
Their solar-power drawing machine Amio I Te Ra drew attention to the power of the Sun – with each solar-powered revolution it draws a circle in black carbon. Accompanying workshops used the Sun’s energy to draw with photo-sensitive paper and power solar cameras.
E Amio Haere Ana te Ao I Te Ra | Circling the Sun [Revolution Cycle] installation: Dr Amanda Yates.
Te Mana o Te Ra workshops: Dr Kathy Waghorn.
A crowd gathers to examine E Amio Haere Ana te Ao I Te Ra | Circling The Sun – Revolution Cycle installation during Te Mana o Te Ra | The Power of the Sun solar-power, zero-carbon energy workshops and installation at the Auckland City Library, Ngā Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, on 27 and 28 April.
Child’s play: Involving kids in the design of public spaces
21 May 2019
Cities are generally designed for adults and cars. Their built form and safety concerns constrain children’s play and mobility, and a default planning position largely confines children’s use of the public realm to places such as playgrounds, skate parks and sports grounds. If children’s well being is compromised through restricted outdoor play and mobility opportunities, the social sustainability of our towns and cities is in question.
A Building Better project is researching the best ways to engage children in the co-design of public spaces so that our towns and cities become more child-friendly. Read all about it in Architecture Now.
A neighbourhood drawing of the Puhinui Stream regeneration project from one of the Wiri Central School’s student co-designers.
Waimahia Inlet affordable housing study
11 March 2019
A new study, Developing community: Following the Waimahia Inlet affordable housing initiative, by Building Better researchers Karen Witten, Simon Opit, Emma Ferguson, and Robin Kearns, is now available on the BBHTC website.
The Waimahia Inlet is a 295-dwelling greenfield development over 16 hectares in Weymouth, on the edge of Manukau Harbour. The Waimahia Inlet development is a partnership between the Crown, The Tāmaki Collective, and three community housing providers – Te Tumu Kāinga, The New Zealand Housing Foundation, and the Community of Refuge Trust (CORT) Community Housing. This consortium of Māori organisations and community housing providers (CHPs) shared a mission to provide affordable, good-quality housing, with a focus on meeting the housing needs of Māori and Pasifika families.
Virtual environments in urban design
4 February 2019
Designing an urban environment involves complex physical and social issues. The design decision-making process should be configured to deal with these complex issues, but most of the design methods used by urban professionals are top-down approaches, where the scope for involving laypeople in the design process is poor.
A lack of visual information and tools in the design process doesn’t allow end users to speculate on new design ideas before they are built. In addition, to address construction and the post-occupancy period details, design processes can become cumbersome. This level of detail seldom helps people to understand design ideas.
A new study by Building Better’s Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods team members Professor Marc Aurel Schnabel and Shuva Chowdhury, Victoria University of Wellington, develops a design discussion platform to produce urban forms by employing virtual tools.
Red zone stories to be told via new app
28 November 2018
While plans are being made for the future of Christchurch’s red zone, one researcher is keen to ensure the area’s past is not forgotten. Radio New Zealand Morning Report interviews Canterbury University’s Donald Matheson. Donald is a researcher in Building Better’s contestable research project called Understanding Place, and has developed an app that enables people to upload videos of themselves talking about parts of the red zone that are special to them.
Cultural landscape approach to design at ICOMOS
31 October 2018
Integrating Kaupapa Māori and Te Aranga design principles into design processes was the theme of a paper presented by Building Better researchers Jacqueline Paul and Jade Kake at the ICOMOS 2018 conference in Suva, Fiji earlier this month. The aim of the conference was to share knowledge, celebrate the rich culture of the Pacific, and discuss common issues of heritage conservation across the region.
Jade reflected on her experiences of the conference, finding some presentations troubling, while others were uplifting.
Virtual reality for urban design decisions
1 October 2018
A new study by Building Better Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods research team members Prof. Marc Aurel Schnabel and Shuva Chowdhury investigates using virtual reality (VR) to create user-friendly interfaces to generate and visualise urban form. Typically, current urban design processes can’t visualise urban form in real time during the decision-making stage. Virtual environment design instruments offer a realm to generate, visualise and analyse urban form. The researchers believe that engaging stakeholders using a VR design platform can reduce the gap between design intent and design outcomes leading to a more favourable design process.
Concepts of Neighbourhood: A Review of the Literature
27 September 2018
The Shaping places: Future Neighbourhoods research programme is focused on researching liveable and well-designed neighbourhoods, including houses, which contribute to successful towns and cities. It is seeking to develop our understanding of the principles and processes that create more successful neighbourhoods. This includes both the physical and social structure of neighbourhoods. Within this context, researcher Dr Natalie Allen has developed a literature review. This working paper is designed to offer a frame of reference for subsequent research into New Zealand’s neighbourhood context and to provide an overview of why considering the concept of neighbourhood is important.
Te Aranga Māori Design Principles
18 September 2018
Landscape architect graduate Jacqueline Paul (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), from the Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods team, and landscape architect William Hatton (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne, Ngāti Raukawa, Muaūpoko) write on Te Aranga Māori Design Principles developed by the Auckland Council in conjunction with mana whenua to provide practical guidance for designers shaping the city’s built environment.
Hape – Protect Ihumatao. Photo: Yamen Jawish
NZ ‘not geared for affordable housing’
5 July 2018
Smaller housing developers are being locked out by bureaucracy costs, and experts say the government must connect people with expertise so affordable housing, particularly for Māori, can be built. Listen to Building Better researcher Ella Henry from the Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods team talking Māori affordable housing this week on Radio New Zealand’s Nine to Noon programme.
Photo: RNZ, Claire Eastham-Farrelly.
Hobsonville Point high-density development
31 May 2018
Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods Principal Investigator Errol Haarhoff is interviewed about the impact of high density living on well-being and housing satisfaction at Hobsonville Point.
The suburb is unique in that it’s the first of its kind: a greenfield built from scratch and founded on the principle of high density living, says Errol. And it seems to be working well.
The call of home for new graduate
28 May 2018
Jacqueline Paul, from the Building Better Homes, Towns & Cities Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods Māori Research team, features in this month’s Landscape Architecture Aotearoa. Now that she’s finished Unitec the 24-year-old has just reached out to her local trust up North. Her next 10-year plan is to return to the Takou Bay area (where her father is from and grandparents are buried) to support her whānau plan their papakāinga (housing development on ancestral land) and marae development.
Jackie Paul at Te Ngaere Marae near Matauri Bay in Northland. Photo: Landscape Architecture
Jacqueline Paul – delegate at the UN 2018 Winter Youth Assembly
19 February 2018
Jacqueline Paul (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi, Kahungunu) is part of the Building Better Homes, Towns & Cities Shaping Places: Future Neighbourhoods Māori Research team. She was a delegate at the UN 2018 Winter Youth Assembly from 14 to 16 February in New York. This Youth Assembly is a platform to elevate the voices of young people in international dialogues, empower youth to advocate for future generations, and mobilize youth as agents of impactful change. Jacqueline’s participation in this assembly was supported by the Challenge.
Can higher density enhance liveability?
15 July 2017
Higher-density housing requires quality urban development to deliver liveable, walkable communities. A National Science Challenge funded survey in Auckland showed this is what people want from where they live.