bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Process + Product: The condition of low-cost housing in Bangkok, Thailand
Authors:   , Brown Samuel Peter
Published: November 2021

The low-income housing situation in Bangkok, Thailand, is similar to that faced in many developing cities throughout the world. The housing opportunities afforded to residents classed as low-income dwellers, are minimal, unsuitable and inconsiderate of their complex social, cultural and spiritual requirements, often leading to the formation of slums, and squatter settlements. The close proximity of living experienced in informal settlements results in a community-focused style of living, where neighbours rely on each other to survive. This is translated not only into the social fabric of the informal settlement, but also into the architectural style of these vernacular communities. The process of helping construct your neighbour's home, builds social and cultural ties; these traits are often lost when outside parties attempt to ‘improve’ the low-income living situation. The idea of housing design as a process not just a product, also referred to as ‘cooked’ architecture, is widely promoted through the writings, research and design methodologies focused towards low-income housing endeavors (Rapoport, 1988; Sinha, 2012; Yap, 1990). Despite this, effective involvement of residents in developing and building their own homes is something rarely practiced or achieved within architecture, yet the benefits of including residents, who are the focus of a complex social and architectural situation, in the design process seems clear. There is little question that communities that work through this process become stronger, both socially and economically, however, the quality of housing and architectural output is still at a very low level, despite obvious improvements from the previous low-cost conditions. To address this, an architectural outcome has been developed utilizing a critical design approach. The implementation of ethnographic and participatory design research, as well as multiple design iterations, based on current and traditional modes, has resulted in an architecture that is culturally responsive, impacts the existing context lightly, and primarily provides a positive social scenario to encourage community betterment through collective construction and living.
Determinants of the Exchange of Support between Parents and their Emerging Adult Offspring
Authors:   , Li Cissy
Published: November 2021

The parent-child relationship is one of the most integral connections throughout the life course (Fingerman, Cheng, Tighe, Birditt, & Zarit, 2012). Research indicates that support readily flows back and forth within this relationship, with parents providing the majority of support when their offspring are in adolescence, and middle aged offspring providing the most when parents reach old age (Hogan, Eggebeen, & Clogg, 1993). Determinants of this supportive exchange that have been investigated include demographic factors such as age, gender, and geographical proximity (Rossi & Rossi, 1990). Substantially less research has investigated the impact of longitudinal determinants, such as the joint developmental history shared by parents and their offspring on the amount of support exchanged between them. Even less research has investigated the links between a shared developmental history and more proximal predictors of supportive exchanges such as filial motives, and their influence on actual support provision. A prediction investigated in the current study was that a positive family climate in adolescence would predict increased supportive exchanges between emerging adult children and their parents. Further, it was posited that a Western conceptualisation of filial motives would mediate the relationship between family climate and the exchange of support, and a new scale was constructed using a theoretical approach to measure this dynamic. This study employed longitudinal data from 338 participants from two time points of the Youth Connectedness Project, five years apart. Participants were aged 12-17 in 2008 at the first time point, and aged 17-23 in 2013 at the second time point. Family climate variables were measured at the first time point, whereas filial motives and the exchange of support were measured at the second time point. A confirmatory factor analysis of a newly constructed filial motives measure indicated a three factor solution of ‘interdependence’, ‘duty’ and ‘independence’. The three aspects of this new construct evidenced unique mediating relationships between family climate variables in adolescence and reported exchange of support five years later. A path analysis constructed with structural equation modelling indicated that engagement in family mutual activities and the degree to which parents granted autonomy directly predicted five years later the amount of support received from caregivers. Notably, family cohesion was the strongest indirect predictor of the provision of support to parents, and this relationship was mediated by filial motives of interdependence and duty. These results collectively support the notion of continuity throughout the life course, and emphasises the need for longitudinal research to better understand the influence of family climate in adolescence on the parent-child relationship later in the life course.
The Environmental Reporting Bill 2014
Authors:   , Boyes Amy
Published: November 2021

This paper reviews the development of State of the Environment Reporting both internationally, and with a specific emphasis on Environmental Reporting In New Zealand. It provides a summary of the various uses of State of the Environment Reports and their use in policy development, and highlights the importance of reporting independence from Executive Governments to ensure that the State of the Environment Reports are accurate and trusted. The essay provides a brief description and analysis of the two main frameworks used in State of the Environment Reports, and compares them to the framework developed by the Ministry for the Environment for use in New Zealand. The essay then goes on to discuss the Environmental Reporting Bill introduced by the New Zealand Government in February 2014. The essay concludes that the Environmental Reporting Bill in its current state has serious flaws that will result in State of the Environment Reports that are not independent and will not provide a comprehensive assessment of the state of New Zealand's environment.
Biodiversity offsets under the Resource Management Act 1991: A New Environmental Bottom-Line?
Authors:   , Holloway Adam Lothian
Published: November 2021

Biodiversity offsets, a form of environmental compensation, are increasingly being offered by developers and taken into account as part of the process for determining planning permissions in New Zealand. This paper outlines the concept of biodiversity offsets and, with reference to a case study, the role it currently plays under New Zealand's primary planning legislation – the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). The paper argues that while the current approach to offsets under the RMA is sub-optimal, recent developments of the law pertaining to national policy statements provide an opportunity to use biodiversity offsets as part of implementing an environmental bottom line for biodiversity and ecosystem function loss.
The implication of the precautionary principle on international trade
Authors:   , Wibowo Fitria Anindhita H.
Published: November 2021

This paper looks at the origin and nature of the precautionary principle as an emerging principle in international law that arises as a response to the impacts of human activities on the environment. As a chosen focus, this paper discusses the implication of the precautionary principle on international trade by looking at its relationship and interaction with international trade law under the World Trade Organization. This paper explores the consistency and conflicts between the precautionary principle and the rules under the WTO Agreements by examining the different and possibly similar values underlying both. This paper discusses the problem areas where the precautionary principle can conflict with WTO rules as well as explore areas where they can be made to comply with each other.
The Weeks When Decades Happened: A Theoretical Consideration of the 2011 Egyptian Uprising
Authors:   , Menzies Rebekah Anna Jónsdottir
Published: November 2021

In 2011, the Middle East was plunged into turmoil with a series of popular uprisings ousting a number of long standing dictators. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year reign was toppled in just over two weeks. This thesis takes a theoretical approach to the Egyptian Revolution, assessing the extent to which the Egyptian case lends support to various theories which consider transitions away from authoritarianism and towards democracy, and the extent to which these theories can assist us in understanding why democracy has not resulted in Egypt. There are a number of strands of theoretical work which consider both transitions away from authoritarianism and towards democracy, and the factors influencing the timing and mode of transition. These include structural theories related to economic modernisation, inequality and crisis; those related to the role of elites and civil society in influencing transitions, whether from above or below; ideas surrounding the diffusion of, and international influences on, democratisation; and arguments considering the role of religion and culture. This thesis argues that theories of authoritarian breakdown garner more support from the Egyptian case than theories of democratisation. Ideas related to the diffusion of contentious politics and international influences on transition, as well as the role of both elites and civil society, garner support from the Egyptian case. Structural theories related to economic conditions, and the role of religion and culture, garner less support from events in Egypt.
The problem of misdeclared container weight
Authors:   , King Murray
Published: November 2021

This paper addresses the problem of misdeclaring container weights, which causes accidents on land and sea, with serious consequences. It reviews the current international and New Zealand domestic law, and the plan to mandate verification of container weight in the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention. It concludes that this is unlikely to be enough by itself to fix the problem. It considers the points in the supply chain where responsibility could be placed for weighing, and proposes a “chain of responsibility” approach with initial weighing by the shipper and check weighing later, especially at ports, with misdeclared containers being reportable as incidents. Such a system should rid New Zealand of the problem.
New Zealand’s ‘Critics of Empire’: Domestic Opposition to New Zealand’s Pacific Empire, 1883-1948
Authors:   , Hoare Nicholas
Published: November 2021

The recent resurgence of interest in the ‘other side’ of New Zealand’s colonial history has reaffirmed the need to view the nation’s history in its Pacific context. This historiographical turn has involved taking seriously the fact that as well as being a colony of Britain, New Zealand was an empire-state and metropole in its own right, possessing a tropical, Oceanic empire. What has yet to have been attempted however is a history of the ‘other side’ of the imperial debate. Thus far the historiography has been weighted towards New Zealand’s imperial and colonial agents. By mapping metropolitan critiques of New Zealand’s imperialism and colonialism in the Pacific (1883-1948), this thesis seeks to rebalance the historiographical ledger. This research adds to our understanding of New Zealand’s involvement in the colonial Pacific by demonstrating that anticolonial struggles were not only confined to the colonies, they were also fought on the metropolitan front by colonial critics at once sympathetic to the claims of the colonised populations, and scathing of their own Government’s colonial policy. These critics were, by virtue of their status as white, metropolitan citizens, afforded greater rights and freedoms than indigenous colonial subjects, and so were able to challenge colonial policy in the public domain. At the same time this thesis demonstrates how colonial criticism reflected national anxieties. The grounds for criticism generally depended on the wider social context. In the nineteenth-century in particular, critiques often contained concerns that New Zealand’s Pacific imperialism would disrupt the sanctity of ‘White New Zealand’, however as the twentieth-century wore on criticism bore the imprint of anti-racism and increasingly supported indigenous claims for self-government. By examining a seventy year period of change, this thesis shows that at every stage of the ‘imperial process’, New Zealand’s imperialism in the Pacific was a subject open to persistent public debate.
The humane co house
Authors:   , Coles Chloé
Published: November 2021

The Humane Co-house design-led research project presents a new typology for shared medium-density housing sited in a city-fringe Wellington suburb. The research argues communal living can be utilised to achieve smaller dwellings, a high medium-density grain, a humane living environment and a new form of social interaction that home buyers will find desirable. Buying a home is difficult throughout New Zealand and Wellington is no exception. Inner-city apartment blocks lack individuality, space for growing families and a sense of community and autonomy. While research shows houses in outer suburbs are perceived to provide these, they come at a high price and there are low amounts of available stock. There is potential for city-fringe suburbs adjacent to the inner city to accommodate more dwellings, creating available housing stock that is appealing to buyers who would otherwise be looking at expensive suburban houses. The research begins with the current attitudes and preferences within the New Zealand housing context, and suggests that the appeal of the traditional detached suburban house is intertwined with a desired balance of private space to common space. The research designs and develops a new typology that attempts to achieve this balance, but with smaller dwellings at a high medium-density. Through design-led research an architectural definition and manifestation of a humane dwelling is formed. This focuses on a balance of private space and common space. Qualities of common and private spaces within a dwelling are explored through literature and design tests. Evaluation of design case studies produced from research, tests and iterations draws conclusions about how communal living can be utilised by different demographics to achieve a new type of social interaction, and a basic level of affordability that will resonate in the current context. The final design case study was critically reflected upon in terms of a theoretical client that over time might transition through three demographic groups – a working young person or couple, a family and a retired person or couple. In this way the design case study produced was considered as a flexible and long-term dwelling, resulting in a humane and appealing home for occupants at different stages of life.
Comparing European Union and Dutch asylum law procedures: Balancing efficiency and substantive examination in asylum applications
Authors:   , Griemink Marleen
Published: November 2021

Under international law refugee status is granted to those who fall within the definition of a refugee under the Refugee Convention 1951.¹ The Convention, however, does not implement any mechanisms which directly implement its principles. It is therefore up to the State to ensure that refugee rights are implemented directly. James Hathaway suggests two mechanisms to implement the Convention, namely solution-oriented temporary protection and shared responsibility among states, in order to safeguard practical access to meaningful asylum, but acknowledging that any system must take into account the self-interests of states and so must establish effective control systems and to minimize risks.² Although discussion on such proposals is beyond the ambit of this work, it is important as it shows that in the absence of any implementing or remedial mechanisms under the Convention, it is important to have a system which effectively balances the access to asylum with the interests of the State in keeping the risks and numbers of asylum seekers low.
Non-refoulement and national security: A comparative study of UK, Canada and New Zealand
Authors:   , Li Hanxiao
Published: November 2021

“International law generally rejects deportation to torture, even where national security interests are at stake.” ¹ There had been a fierce debate when Hassan Ahmed Shaqlane, a Somalian refugee who was sentenced to an 8-year prison term for rape and kidnapping, won his appeal against deportation, upheld by the Deportation Review Tribunal.² Controversy arose again when Al Baiiaty, an Iraqi resettlement refugee was convicted of sexual violation by rape for the fourth time. With the Court of Appeal’s noting that Mr Al Baiiaty poses a serious risk to the community³, the then Minister of Immigration called for a report on the deportation issues raised by the case.⁴ Deportation to torture may deprive a refugee of the right to liberty, security and perhaps life⁵, which is against many states’ domestic laws and international instruments such as the International Conant on Civil and Political Rights⁶ and the Convention against Torture⁷. It has been said that even if Article 33 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees does not categorically reject deportation to torture on its face, it should not be used to deny rights that other legal interments make available to everyone.⁸ It is highly questionable, however, under this broad obligation, if a refugee poses a significant threat to the protecting country’s national security, what action can a state take to protect its own national security and its own people. Are provision in the Refugee Convention, the ICCPR and the CAT absolute, binding and non derogable? If so, can a state derogate from its international obligation to refoule a refugee to potential torture to protect its national security? On what grounds then, can a state derogate from it? This paper will consider these questions. By doing so, this paper will first outline the international obligations, provided by the Refugee Convention, the ICCPR and the CAT, what is an international norm and states’ derogation rights in these provisions. The paper then looks at the courts in Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand’s approach in Suresh, EN⁹ and Zaoui¹⁰ when deporting a person who poses threat to national security can lead to torture and arbitrarily deprivation of life and the deportation potentially violates an international obligation or a state’s constitution. The paper will explain their approaches in relation to the different positions of their international obligations. The paper submits its concerns for some specific provisions in the Refugee Convention and the issues in exercising the absolute rights provided by the ICCPR and the CAT, as well as the ECHR. The paper finally submits its preferable approach after observing states’ practice and comparative study of the three approaches.
Australia's guestworkers? A discussion of the rights of New Zealand citizens to enter, reside and work in Australia
Authors:   , Oldfield Yvonne
Published: November 2021

New Zealanders and Australians have enjoyed free movement across the Tasman since early European settlement of both countries. They have been able to live and work in either country for indeterminate periods, and up until recently, enjoyed many of the same benefits as permanents residents of their respective countries. However from 2001 the Australian government has cut back the entitlements of New Zealanders in Australia to welfare and other benefits. This paper explores the legal position of New Zealanders in Australia and the reasons behind the Australian government’s moves. It will argue that New Zealanders who do not meet the usual permanent residence criteria are effectively being used as temporary migrant labour in Australia. Even where they make Australia their long-term home they have no access to an alternative path to residence and citizenship. Excluded from the franchise, they are in a position of “civic marginalization” in which they have no direct influence over policies such as the 2001 changes to social welfare. The paper will conclude by considering briefly whether a human rights approach could provide a mechanism for these “Ozkiwis” to address differential treatment that has arisen as a result of their civic marginalisation.
Euro-sceptical or Euro-phile? A critical analysis of the jurisprudence of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the process of European integration and decision-making
Authors:   , Sangmeister Bernadette
Published: November 2021

On 14 January 2014, for the first time in its history, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) decided to refer a decision to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This referral, which concerned the issue of the legality of the European Central Bank’s bond-buying practices, must be seen as “historic” with regard to European integration and the relationship between European Union law and German constitutional law, forming part of important decisions of the FCC in this field since its first euro-critical judgment, Solange I, 40 years ago. Considering the high influence the German Federal Constitutional Court has had on the process of European integration, this paper aims at identifying and critiquing the lines of argumentation developed by the FCC in recent years in the field of European integration and decision-making before and after the Lisbon judgment in 2009, paying particular attention to the currently suspended OMT Decision proceedings in order to answer the question if a shift in the jurisprudence of the FCC from a euro-sceptical to a euro-phile approach has taken place.
Community mediation
Authors:   , Grange Miranda
Published: November 2021

This paper outlines the successful development of the traditional mediation template into a community‐based model. The history of community mediation is explored within the context of the United States in the 1960s, and in Australia and New Zealand during the mid‐1980s. Recent developments in New Zealand – with particular emphasis on the promising developments occurring in Christchurch, Waitakere and Dunedin – are evaluated, though this paper acknowledges that there are limited statistics available since these schemes have only been running for a few years at most. Finally this paper takes three foundation models first postulated by Harrington and Merry, and later by Bush and Folger, and applies these models to the existing New Zealand community mediation schemes to evaluate their success.
Mediation advocacy
Authors:   , Shaw Annabel
Published: November 2021

Mediation has been a part of New Zealand’s employment statutory framework in one form or another for over a century, and has been the first port of call for employment disputes under the current Employment Relations Act for nearly 15 years.¹ I have been working as a mediator in this context for almost seven years in more than 1,000 mediations. Lawyers are playing a significant part in the field of mediation, with a large number representing clients in this forum on a regular basis. In an evaluation of 100 of my mediations over a ten-month period, 85% of parties were legally represented. This rate is consistent with anecdotal reporting across the employment mediation service. Lawyer representation in mediation is not unique to the employment context. There are various mediation schemes provided for under many New Zealand statutes as well as a wide raft of non-statutory mediation occurring in numerous settings. In my experience as a mediator with human rights and leaky building mediations, as well as working as a lawyer in a large commercial law firm, I am aware lawyers are representing clients in many other areas of mediation as well. Although there is a significant amount of mediation occurring and a large number of lawyers regularly appearing in mediation, my experience is that the majority of lawyers act in mediation as if they were in litigation and take an adversarial approach. My thesis is that lawyers have not adapted effectively to mediation and taken on the role of mediation advocacy. This paper explores the topic by first describing, in Part II, what I observe as lawyers’ adversarial approach in mediation. It then looks at other research to assess whether this experience is reflective of a wider issue. It finds there is evidence to support my observations. Part III analyses why lawyers are operating in an adversarial way in mediation and proposes several reasons this may be the case. Part IV puts forward what I propose is appropriate mediation advocacy. It sets out the knowledge, roles and skills required from lawyers when representing clients in mediation. Part V suggests what might be done to assist a shift away from the common, adversarial approach to effective mediation advocacy. This paper is written within the context of employment mediation in New Zealand. However, it draws on research from different jurisdictions and areas of practice so the conclusions it comes to may have more general application. The topic is not whether lawyers should be in mediation. I am not arguing that lawyers do not have a part to play in mediation. A lawyer well versed in mediation advocacy can play a highly effective part in the process. Leonard Riskin, one of the key authors on the topic of lawyers in mediation, expresses this even more strongly, saying he believes lawyers’ involvement is fundamental to mediation’s success.² Further, this paper is focused on lawyers representing parties in mediation and does not consider lawyers as mediators.
Attachment theory and music therapy: What was the relevance of attachment theory to a student’s music therapy programme for ‘at-risk’ mothers and their babies?
Authors:   , Ridley Helen
Published: November 2021

This qualitative secondary analysis research project sought to explore the relevance of attachment theory as it might apply to a music therapy programme set up and run within a residential service for ‘at risk’ mothers and their babies. The explicit purpose of the music therapy programme was to assist the mothers in bonding with their babies. The researcher was a student music therapist on placement at the facility, involved in weekly one-to-one sessions with a total of nineteen young women and their babies, over the time that each was resident at the facility. The music therapist also ran some weekly group sessions (mothers with babies) as part of the facility’s mandatory education programme. The music therapy programme took place over twenty-two weeks, with a two week break after the first ten weeks. The research analysis commenced on completion of the programme. Thematic analysis was used to look at two types of data; data from the placement (including clinical notes and personal reflective journal), and literature on attachment theory. There was an initial review of selected literature on attachment theory and music therapy. The researcher/student music therapist then carried out an inductive qualitative secondary analysis of the data that had been generated as a standard part of her practice over the period of the student placement. This was followed by a further examination of attachment theory literature to confirm key aspects of the theory. The findings from the inductive analysis were then looked at in the light of those identified key features of attachment theory. The research findings showed many strong links between key concepts of attachment theory, and the patterns that emerged from the placement data, manifesting on a number of different levels. However some patterns might be more usefully explained and/or elucidated by other theories. Findings suggested that attachment theory provided a useful framework and language for observing and understanding the interactive behaviours and external and personal structures that appeared to work for or against mother-infant bonding. In addition, the music therapy programme seemed a particularly suitable vehicle for promoting positive mother-infant bonding. However it was found that although the music therapy programme may have been helpful in a positive mother-infant bonding process, there was no evidence to suggest that this would necessarily extend to promoting a secure attachment relationship, given the personal, structural and legal factors associated with the high ‘at-risk’ context. An attachment-based music therapy programme may well have a more useful role to play in a lower risk context where mothers and babies remained for longer in the facility, and where the programme could continue throughout the women’s transition into the community and beyond.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems: A study of organizational interactions and interrelations in entrepreneurial ecosystems
Authors:   , Ayele Yoseph S.
Published: November 2021

Entrepreneurial ecosystems are emerging around the world, and their relevance in business and management is increasing. Practitioners and researchers are using biological metaphors to understand collaborative aspects of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This thesis explores the use of bio-ecological metaphors to study interactions and interrelations taking place in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Specifically, it examines the characteristics of an ecosystem that influence interactions and interrelations within ecosystems. This thesis is part of a qualitative ethnographic research that employs an inductive approach to data analyses. It studies a New Zealand based ecosystem and presents findings on three characteristics that influence interactions and interrelations in ecosystems: interdependence, diversity, and organizational birth and death cycles. In doing so, this thesis makes a number of contributions to management theory and practice. Firstly, it combines aspects of organizational ecology and open-systems theory to develop an ecosystem-level unit of analysis. By using an ecosystem lens, researchers can better observe collaborative aspects of organizations. Secondly, findings suggest that increasing the degree of interdependency and diversity and facilitating organizational birth and death cycles can enhance levels of interaction and interrelations in ecosystems. This implies that more skills, knowledge, ideas, resources, and different forms of support can be exchanged within ecosystems. Such exchange can enrich ecosystems.
Privacy, Security and the Cyber Dilemma: An Examination of New Zealand’s Response to the Rising Threat of Cyber-attack
Authors:   , Gordon Richard
Published: November 2021

Cyber-attacks present significant challenges to a modern, globalised world. Progressively used by criminal and terrorist organisations to attack or victimise non-state actors, governments are increasingly forced to pursue cyber-security strategies to ensure the security of their citizens and private sectors. An examination of New Zealand’s response to the threat of cyber-attacks shows that successive governments have taken steps to enhance New Zealand’s domestic cyber-security capacity and international cyber-security partnerships. These steps have been highly contentious where they have resulted in greater domestic surveillance capabilities. Despite this, New Zealand has enacted significant oversight mechanisms that provide reassurance that the New Zealand Government is mindful of the delicate steps it must take to maintain an appropriate balance between privacy and security.
The Contribution of Natural Design Elements to the Sustained Use of Public Space in a City Centre
Authors:   , Ghavampour Ensiyeh
Published: November 2021

An increasing similarity in urban designs negatively impacts on urban space through a loss of meaning. Although the importance of meaning is stressed in the literature, this aspect of urban space has been neglected in the recent past at a time when sustainable development is also needed. A review of literature reveals that natural elements within physical settings have meaning for people and that the meanings are socially constructed by the users of the spaces. The contribution of meaning, activity, and physical elements in urban space is described in the Theory of Place. Investigating the affordance of these three components in the sustained use of small urban spaces in a city centre, where public space is at a premium and compatibility of design elements a pre‐requisite, forms the focus of this study. This research aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by using the Theory of Place to assess natural design elements in small urban spaces. An investigation of theory, design characteristics and activity was conducted in four small urban spaces in the city centre of Wellington, New Zealand. The investigation used structured surveys with a facet approach, and photographic observation and GIS mapping of behaviour to answer the research question: Is it possible that natural design elements in public spaces influence the sustained use of a place? In addition, if observations of sustained use are related to natural design elements, is there a theoretical basis for this assertion and can it be examined through research? To answer these questions Study One examines the linkages between physical setting, social activity and meaning by investigating the behavioural and cognitive‐affective affordance of natural elements. With the results indicating a preference for natural over artificial design elements, Study Two investigated more closely how natural and artificial elements combine in design and which physical elements are likely to have strong links with other components of place. Study Three tests the validity of the theoretical findings of the initial studies by mapping user’s behaviour in small urban spaces. The convergence of the theoretical and observational research results emphasises the advantages of using both approaches in an investigation of place. Investigation of the link between meaning and activity through observation is an inferential interpretation which gives rise to the need to use complementary theoretical research with reliable predictive power. While designers should consider theory in design they should also be aware of the practical importance of creating meaningful combinations of design elements that meet the diverse needs and changing users and uses over time.
Hei tiki: He whakamārama hōu
Authors:   , Austin Dougal Rex
Published: November 2021

This thesis addresses the problem that while hei tiki are the most culturally iconic of Māori adornments, there still remains much uncertainty concerning their origins, lineage of development and cultural use. A collections-based study investigates these areas of uncertainty in search of new mana-enhancing understandings.  A position developed in the review is that hei tiki were probably highly developed stylistically from the outset to conform to adze-shaped pieces of pounamu, with the common hei tiki style likely appearing and rising to prominence quickly. A case is argued for local conventions of style exerting an early and ongoing influence upon the stylistic diversity and development of hei tiki, with a close relationship with wood carving appearing likely. The mana of hei tiki derived from the agency of prolonged ancestral use is investigated in relation to the view that, while hei tiki making and use probably reached their height in the early 19th century, a significant portion may have been made as European trade items. The manifestation of indigenous agency is a reoccurring theme investigated in this thesis and is argued to have implications for the mana of hei tiki.  Features of hei tiki belonging to the early contact period 1769-1777 and to a general sample of 50 hei tiki from the Te Papa collection were recorded and enabled shape, style, pounamu and wear analysis.  The results indicate that by 1769-1777 the adze shape was common amongst hei tiki, the most common style predominated, conventional proportions and most of the stylistic features apparently common to hei tiki in general had been established. Supporting evidence is found for a trend of increasing hei tiki size over time, and for hei tiki making and use having peaked in the early 19th century. Shape-to-size analysis also indicates early origins and continuity for the adze-shaped hei tiki.   Furthermore pounamu and wear analysis results indicate that hei tiki continued to be used primarily by Māori. Overall the results are interpreted as supporting or being consistent with the arguments developed in the literature review and they are held to be mana-enhancing for hei tiki.
The Home as an Incubator for Dignity in Old Age: An Architectural Exploration for Dignified Ageing
Authors:   , Stevens Christopher Edward
Published: November 2021

The main intention of this research is to develop a method of increasing the number of residential dwellings which can enable ageing New Zealanders to age in place and experience a dignified ageing process. This is in response to an ageing population, expected to result in a quarter of New Zealanders being over 65 by the year 2030. As a higher proportion of the population will consist of ageing citizens, predominantly Baby Boomers, retaining a high quality of life into old age will become an issue of increasing importance. Attaining this high quality of life is dependent on the provision of dignity and the ability to age in place, and this thesis argues that the built environment plays a significant role in enabling dignity for those ageing. A review of relevant literature informs a theoretical framework which is utilised as the basis of social and architectural critique of the three prolific existing housing options for the elderly. Common architectural and programmatic deficiencies illustrate that in their current state, the existing housing stock and living models designed specifically for the elderly simply do not provide architectural environments conducive of enabling dignity of ageing occupants. As the designers of the built environment, architects have the ability to shape spaces and places which can enable dignity. In response to the lack of appropriate housing environments for the ageing, this thesis proposes three alternative architectural models. These explorations consist of the proactive retrofit of a typical 1940’s State house, the proactive retrofit of a typical 1990’s McMansion, and the proactive new build of a medium density cluster of dwellings. All three models implement common architectural principles and elements, advocated for within the theoretical framework, in order to explore the viability and validity of each of the proposed living models. Overall the research suggests that the three proposed alternative architectural environments do enable dignity in old age, and could viably be incorporated into New Zealand’s future social and architectural context. The architectural methods used and design decisions made are able to be applied to a large number of dwellings and have the potential to increase the number of New Zealanders who can age in place with dignity.
'Always think of the objects': Ekphrasis as aesthetics in the contemporary novel
Authors:   , Alston Lucy Eleanor
Published: November 2021

It is a commonplace that ekphrasis – the description in literature of a visual work of art – brings to the fore questions of representation and reference. Such questions are particularly associated with the ‘postmodern’; ekphrasis is thus often subsumed under the category of metafiction. There has been little critical attention, however, to how the ekphrastic mode might be understood in aesthetic terms. This thesis considers the nature of ekphrasis’s referential capacity, but expands on this to suggest a number of ways in which the ekphrastic mode evinces the aesthetic and ontological assumptions upon which a text is predicated. Two case studies illustrate how the ekphrastic mode can be figured to different effect. In comparing these two novels, this thesis argues that the ekphrastic mode makes clear the particular subject-object relations expressed by each. If Lukács is correct in asserting that the novel mode expresses a discrepancy between ‘the conventionality of the objective world and the interiority of the subjective one’, ekphrasis provides a fruitful but under-explored avenue for critical inquiry because, as a mode, it is situated at the point at which subject and object must converge. The first chapter of this thesis is concerned with Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station (2011), a novel that includes both traditional ekphrastic descriptions and embedded photographs and references to critical theory that function ekphrastically. David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (1996) provides a contrast: the novel makes continued reference to film – a medium defined by its temporal qualities – but as used in the novel the ekphrastic mode implies a fixed, ahistorical schema. The implications that such differences have on the novel mode and critical discourse are explored in the final section of the thesis.
"Between two worlds become much like each other": Liminal spaces in the poetry of David Jones and T.S. Eliot
Authors:   , Chimirri Cara Cordelia
Published: November 2021

T. S Eliot remains a literary giant close to fifty years after his death while David Jones, in contrast, is undeniably a marginal figure in the world of poetry but one who is slowly gaining a larger profile. Jones has from the very beginning been aligned with Eliot by virtue of Eliot’s own comments and by a succession of critics who cast him as Eliot’s disciple. The time has come, however, for the side notes to Eliot, which have become almost a convention of Jonesian criticism, to be expanded into a detailed comparative study between his and Eliot’s work. Eliot scholars appear to show no interest in pursuing comparisons to Jones, as he is hardly mentioned, even in passing, in discussions of Eliot’s work. This too, is something that deserves to be reassessed. Undertaking a new approach to Jones-Eliot comparisons develops Jones criticism and opens up a new branch of Eliot studies. This thesis repositions Jones and Eliot from the way they have, thus far, been critically related to one another by focusing on liminal space in both poets’ major texts: The Anathemata, In Parenthesis, The Waste Land, and Four Quartets. This threshold space can be found in their landscapes and in the way they adapt poetic techniques, such as imagery and juxtapositions of irreconcilable opposites. The between-space of transition manifested in their texts reflects the wider environment of flux and transition Jones and Eliot experienced in the first half of the twentieth century. Using the work of a range of literary critics, historians, philosophers, and geographers, including Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner, Michel Foucault, Edward W. Soja, Michel de Certeau, Andrew Thacker, Thomas Dilworth, David Harvey, and Stephen Kern, establishes a spatially focused model of liminality which facilitates a close reading of these spaces in Jones’s and Eliot’s work.
LittleBot
Authors:   , McVay James
Published: November 2021

Robots to assist in USAR (urban search and rescue) situations have been employed since 2001. Such robots are designed to provide video and sensor feedback to evaluate hazardous environments before human taskforces are sent in. This minimises the risks human personnel are exposed to, while increasing the effectiveness of USAR operations. However, the typically high cost of such robots and the reliance on trained operators puts them out of reach of most USAR teams. In New Zealand, there are no nationally available robots suitable for USAR purposes. This thesis explores the development of new affordable devices that can be deployed for USAR operations, known as LittleBots. Three LittleBot variants are developed. Differing primarily in their locomotive capability, two mobile variants provide tether-less video reconnaissance and selectable gas level readings. The third, stationary variant, may be reconfigured with up to four selectable sensors, and is targeted at providing ongoing environmental monitoring at a disaster site. With all variants costing less than USD $155 in components, LittleBots are sufficiently low cost to be considered disposable, greatly increasing the likelihood they will be employed en masse. The stationary Sentry variant demonstrates a minimum runtime of over 60 hours, while the mobile variants provision up to 6 hours of mobile video reconnaissance. For independent deployment of LittleBots, a compatible Controller device is developed. Through user testing, the Controller device demonstrates easy and intuitive use, with no training required.
Magneto-tunnelling transport of chiral charge carriers
Authors:   , Pratley Luke
Published: November 2021

We study magneto-tunnelling between two parallel two-dimensional electron gases theoretically, where the electrons have a pseudo-spin-½ degree of freedom that is coupled to their momentum. The two-dimensional electron gases focused on in this work are single layer graphene, bilayer graphene, and single layer molybdenum disulphide. The results are derived using a linear response theory formalism in the weak tunnelling regime, and it is assumed that the electron gases are at zero temperature, with no interactions or disorder. The linear magneto-tunnelling conductance characteristics for an applied in-plane and tilted magnetic field are found to strongly depend on the pseudo-spin structure of the tunnelling matrix and the pseudo-spin's dependence on momentum. For instance, resonances in the linear magneto-tunnelling conductance are sensitive to the pseudo-spin tunnel-coupling across the barrier and how the pseudo-spin eigenstates are coupled to momentum. We discuss how measurements of the magneto-tunnelling conductance can be applied as a spectroscopic tool. We explain how to measure the pseudo-spin tunnel-coupling through least squares parameter fitting of the magneto-tunnelling conductance. We show that the parameters are interdependent, one can use the interdependency to test the consistency between theory and experiment. It is expected that measurements of pseudo-spin tunnel-coupling will be a function of the lattice structure of the double layer system, which suggests these measurements can be used as a spectroscopic tool. Additionally, we investigate in-plane electric fields in single layer graphene to see if their effects can be observed in magneto-tunnelling transport. Then, we perturbatively include the effects of electron-electron interactions in single layer graphene, and find it should dampen the linear tunnelling conductance. We investigate tunnel-coupled , parallel , single layer and bilayer graphene systems. We find that using an in-plane magnetic field, one can generate a valley polarized tunnelling current. This method is unique because it does not require manipulation of the single and bilayer graphene samples through nano-structuring, coupling to electromagnetic fields, application of mechanical strain, or the presence of defects. In particular, the valley polarization is dependent on the pseudo-spin tunnel-coupling between the single and bilayer graphene systems, and the strength of an applied in-plane magnetic field. We explicitly show through analytic derivations how an understanding of linear magneto-tunnelling transport (zero bias limit) can be used to understand non-linear magneto-tunnelling transport (finite bias).