Exploring models for mixed community housing in New Zealand

Abstract

The potential for mixed communities in tackling issues of poverty, segregation and other associated public and low-income housing ills has long captivated the minds of planners and policy makers. Examples of relevant 'mixed policies' and 'mixed developments' can be seen across the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and several other nations. However, interest in the potential of mixed communities has only just recently surfaced in New Zealand, with very limited research available. The research undertaken for this dissertation aimed to better understand the claims that mixed community schemes are viable alternatives to existing public housing models in New Zealand. This was achieved through answering key research questions relating to whether mixed community developments in New Zealand had been informed from lessons learned internationally, and if this is problematic what improvements can and should be made best on international best practice. The results of this research suggest that New Zealand to date has followed a largely ad hoc approach to mixed community developments, and suggests that New Zealand read against more aggregated knowledge gathered elsewhere. In the absence of a formal commitment to using existing sources of guidance as the process continues it was decided that perhaps the most efficient interim solution would be to create a set of assessment criteria.