title: Demographic change and transport needs in the Waikato region

authors: Baxendine, Sandra

subjects: Waikato region

abstract: This report has been commissioned by Environment Waikato (EW) as part of its review of the Land Transport Strategy for the Waikato region. The report identifies key population characteristics that impact on transport needs of the EW region and the constituent Territorial Authority (TA) areas. In this context, vulnerable locations and populations are identified. Future trends for the EW region and sub-regions are assessed by means of low, medium and high population growth scenarios, and the implications of the projected changes in population size and composition for transport needs are identified. A general theme throughout this report is that in many respects demographic change in the Waikato region is not that different from that in New Zealand as a whole, but there are sharp differences between the constituent TA areas. The report covers changes in population size and structure, ethnic structure, the labour force, income, housing tenure and motor vehicle ownership, deprivation and projections of locally generated trips, the number of motor vehicles and travel to work flows. It is noted that a comprehensive assessment of transport need should embed demographic change into an integrated model of economic change in the region, combined with scenarios relating to external factors and policy changes.

text: Demographic change and transport needs in the Waikato region This report has been commissioned by Environment Waikato (EW) as part of its review of the Land Transport Strategy for the Waikato region. The report identifies key population characteristics that impact on transport needs of the EW region and the constituent Territorial Authority (TA) areas. In this context, vulnerable locations and populations are identified. Future trends for the EW region and sub-regions are assessed by means of low, medium and high population growth scenarios, and the implications of the projected changes in population size and composition for transport needs are identified. A general theme throughout this report is that in many respects demographic change in the Waikato region is not that different from that in New Zealand as a whole, but there are sharp differences between the constituent TA areas. The report covers changes in population size and structure, ethnic structure, the labour force, income, housing tenure and motor vehicle ownership, deprivation and projections of locally generated trips, the number of motor vehicles and travel to work flows. It is noted that a comprehensive assessment of transport need should embed demographic change into an integrated model of economic change in the region, combined with scenarios relating to external factors and policy changes.

year: 2005-09

title: Insurance as maladaptation: Resilience and the "business as usual' paradox

authors: O'Hare, Paul

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Insurance and compensation are cited as critical elements of resilience to natural and non-natural hazards alike. As a strategy of risk management, it emphasises peace of mind, financial recompense and the swift restoration of a ‘business as usual’ status for civil, social and commercial life. Yet despite the contribution of insurance to risk management, the synergies with progressive or adaptive articulations of resilience are not sufficiently explicated. This paper explores the fundamental contradictions of insurance as a form of resilience through a study of flood risk management. It demonstrates how insurance regimes serve to structurally embed risky behaviour and inhibit change after detrimental events. As such, transformative interpretations of resilience conflict with the long-standing principles and operational norms of insurance that privilege normality. The paper concludes that, despite its currency within resilience discourses, insurance is maladaptive and that insurance regimes reinforce exposure and vulnerability through underwriting a return to the ‘status-quo’ rather than enabling adaptive behaviour.

text: Insurance as maladaptation: Resilience and the "business as usual' paradox Insurance and compensation are cited as critical elements of resilience to natural and non-natural hazards alike. As a strategy of risk management, it emphasises peace of mind, financial recompense and the swift restoration of a ‘business as usual’ status for civil, social and commercial life. Yet despite the contribution of insurance to risk management, the synergies with progressive or adaptive articulations of resilience are not sufficiently explicated. This paper explores the fundamental contradictions of insurance as a form of resilience through a study of flood risk management. It demonstrates how insurance regimes serve to structurally embed risky behaviour and inhibit change after detrimental events. As such, transformative interpretations of resilience conflict with the long-standing principles and operational norms of insurance that privilege normality. The paper concludes that, despite its currency within resilience discourses, insurance is maladaptive and that insurance regimes reinforce exposure and vulnerability through underwriting a return to the ‘status-quo’ rather than enabling adaptive behaviour.

year: 2016

title: Virtual hākari:  Sharing Māori culinary traditions in online communities

authors: Muru-Lanning, Charlotte

subjects: Kai Māori

abstract: For Māori, kai is a vital expression of identity, community, place and whakapapa. Traditionally, knowledge about kai is transmitted through customary community groupings and culturally embedded practices. However, with the rise of digital platforms, new spaces have emerged for Māori to gather and to share kai in virtual forms. 
This thesis observes how two Facebook groups – Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ – operate as contemporary spaces for the transmission of Māori culinary knowledge and cultural identity. Kai Māori is considered alongside global studies of culinary traditions and understood through the notion of kai as whakapapa. The thesis addresses two core research questions: 1) How do Facebook groups contribute to an evolving concept of kai Māori? and 2) What kinds of relationships define these online kai communities? 
Guided by Māori data sovereignty (MDSov) principles, I observed interactions on both Facebook pages in two phases – one involving selective data collection over a twelve-month period from January to December 2024 the other involving systematic data collection over a four-week period from 10 December 2024 to 10 January 2025. The observation periods yielded 115 and 1293 posts respectively. A covert digital approach of ‘lurking’ was adopted as seeking prior consent may have affected the quality of the data and disrupted group dynamics. Lurking, as a method, sits uneasily alongside MDSov principles, particularly the principle of manaakitanga, requiring free, prior and informed consent. To address this I safeguarded the confidentiality of community members by seeking consent before reproducing content, removing group members’ names and excluding sensitive information. To analyse posts I used Ethnographic Content Analysis which allowed me to conduct a reflexive, iterative analysis of the posts in a way that was sensitive to the context in which the content was created.
These digital observations show that these groups serve as platforms for the transmission and innovation of kai Māori, encompassing edible components as well as the values enmeshed within these culinary traditions. Despite the mediated nature of these exchanges – where food is virtually consumed rather than physically shared, separate from traditional notions of community – these groups nurture meaningful connections among members, including those physically distant from their whenua. Through recipes, photos, stories, and commentary, the members of Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ cultivate community identity and belonging via common cultural understandings, sharing of knowledge, a general spirit of sociality – and, importantly, a mutual love of kai.
I conceptualise these online spaces as virtual hākari, where the act of sharing virtual kai becomes an affirmation of identity and a form of cultural resistance. While online sharing may risk distancing kai practices and knowledge from traditional sites of transmission, the data suggests that these platforms may serve as conduits that encourage deeper cultural engagement offline. This thesis highlights the centrality of food in Māori cultural survival, sovereignty and resistance. In these digital spaces, kai Māori is not only celebrated but continually reimagined – reinforcing that to prepare, share and celebrate kai as Māori is to actively participate in the continuity of cultural identity.

text: Virtual hākari:  Sharing Māori culinary traditions in online communities For Māori, kai is a vital expression of identity, community, place and whakapapa. Traditionally, knowledge about kai is transmitted through customary community groupings and culturally embedded practices. However, with the rise of digital platforms, new spaces have emerged for Māori to gather and to share kai in virtual forms. 
This thesis observes how two Facebook groups – Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ – operate as contemporary spaces for the transmission of Māori culinary knowledge and cultural identity. Kai Māori is considered alongside global studies of culinary traditions and understood through the notion of kai as whakapapa. The thesis addresses two core research questions: 1) How do Facebook groups contribute to an evolving concept of kai Māori? and 2) What kinds of relationships define these online kai communities? 
Guided by Māori data sovereignty (MDSov) principles, I observed interactions on both Facebook pages in two phases – one involving selective data collection over a twelve-month period from January to December 2024 the other involving systematic data collection over a four-week period from 10 December 2024 to 10 January 2025. The observation periods yielded 115 and 1293 posts respectively. A covert digital approach of ‘lurking’ was adopted as seeking prior consent may have affected the quality of the data and disrupted group dynamics. Lurking, as a method, sits uneasily alongside MDSov principles, particularly the principle of manaakitanga, requiring free, prior and informed consent. To address this I safeguarded the confidentiality of community members by seeking consent before reproducing content, removing group members’ names and excluding sensitive information. To analyse posts I used Ethnographic Content Analysis which allowed me to conduct a reflexive, iterative analysis of the posts in a way that was sensitive to the context in which the content was created.
These digital observations show that these groups serve as platforms for the transmission and innovation of kai Māori, encompassing edible components as well as the values enmeshed within these culinary traditions. Despite the mediated nature of these exchanges – where food is virtually consumed rather than physically shared, separate from traditional notions of community – these groups nurture meaningful connections among members, including those physically distant from their whenua. Through recipes, photos, stories, and commentary, the members of Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ cultivate community identity and belonging via common cultural understandings, sharing of knowledge, a general spirit of sociality – and, importantly, a mutual love of kai.
I conceptualise these online spaces as virtual hākari, where the act of sharing virtual kai becomes an affirmation of identity and a form of cultural resistance. While online sharing may risk distancing kai practices and knowledge from traditional sites of transmission, the data suggests that these platforms may serve as conduits that encourage deeper cultural engagement offline. This thesis highlights the centrality of food in Māori cultural survival, sovereignty and resistance. In these digital spaces, kai Māori is not only celebrated but continually reimagined – reinforcing that to prepare, share and celebrate kai as Māori is to actively participate in the continuity of cultural identity.

year: 2025