Community commodified: planning for a sense of community in residential subdivisions

Abstract

In New Zealand private property developers have begun to influence urban form in new ways by building large residential subdivisions and master planned developments reminiscent of those that have been built in the US for several decades. By creating these residential subdivisions and master planned developments, private property developers have had an increasing influence on urban form. Many have used the concept of ‘community’ in their advertising and promotional activities as a key selling point for these developments. Thus far, while there has been a great deal of research involving the residents of these new subdivisions, insufficient research has been carried out on the land developers themselves, their motives, intentions, and methods in regard to building communities. This paper presents the results of research that explored Christchurch real estate developers’ understandings of ‘community’ and how they went about incorporating these understandings in shaping their developments and in the associated promotional material. In addition to in-depth interviews with real estate developers, advertising material, physical design, and section prices were examined.