Community commodified: harnessing community in the marketing and creation of residential developments

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. 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, an insufficient amount of work has been carried out on the property developers themselves, their motives, intentions, and methods in regard to building communities. This thesis 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, and observations of physical design are examined. It is concluded that community has become a product, commodified by the real estate industry, thus demonstrating that it is possible to commodify not only physical goods but also people’s aspirations and desires.