The first national climate change risk assessment for Aotearoa NZ has been released. It identifies 43 priority risks with the following 10 most significant risks that require urgent action: Natural Environment: Risks to coastal ecosystems, including the intertidal zone, estuaries, dunes, coastal lakes and wetlands, due to ongoing sea-level rise and extreme weather events. Natural… Continue reading Adapting Land Development to a Changing Climate
Category: Housing
Fast-track Consenting (shudder)
The government has announced that it will undertake a law change to fast-track eligible development. The details are still relatively light but the following types of projects have been singled out for priority at this early stage (my satirical comments added): Roading (to help us re-pollute the air); Walking and cycling (which has been revealed… Continue reading Fast-track Consenting (shudder)
Planning is not Predicting
I was taking a deep dive on the Tauranga Growth Strategy recently and found a fascinating drawing by Arkhefield + Urbis. It shows ‘conceptually’ how a neighbourhood could change over 40 years from 2010 to 2050. It was a lovely drawing of single family homes gradually being replaced by more intensive housing. Unfortunately, it is… Continue reading Planning is not Predicting
Planning for Land Use Technology
The Christchurch City Council is proposing to regulate what they call ‘home share accommodation’ through the District Plan. This approach presumes that the resource management issue is a land use problem, when in reality it’s a technology problem. Defining home share accomodation as something different from ‘normal’ residential accommodation is a seemingly arbitrary activity based… Continue reading Planning for Land Use Technology
The Right to Adequate Housing
Buried in Attachment A for Item 5 of the Dunedin City Council Meeting Agenda from 6 May 2019 is: Action 1.4: The Council becomes a member of the ‘Cities for Adequate Housing’ and implements housing as a human right and ends homelessness in Dunedin. Housing Action Plan for Dunedin, April 2019 The Cities for Adequate… Continue reading The Right to Adequate Housing
The Universality of Universal Design
I’m a big fan of Universal Design. Lifemark, a commercial division of CCS Disability Action, is a well known advocate for universal design in NZ. The Lifemark Design Standards focus on dwellings and are based on the following five key principles: Usable Adaptable Accessible Safe Lifetime value The seven principles of universal design are much… Continue reading The Universality of Universal Design