title: Establishing a conceptual model for residential development in New Zealand

authors: Bishop, Joel

subjects: environmental planning

abstract: There is growing concern among planners, policymakers, regulators, urban economists, and the general public that the contemporary housing market is failing to either provide an adequate supply of affordable housing. Mainstream thought attributes the ‘housing crisis’ primarily to the restriction of new housing supply by the planning system, creating an impetus to deregulate and liberalise urban land use through programmes of mass upzoning like the Auckland Unitary Plan. However, current models of urban land use change often ignore the way that diversity in developer behaviour and decision-making may affect development and land use outcomes.  Significant features of this developer diversity in a New Zealand context include the strong and growing role of Māori in development and the importance of small homeowners and investors. 

There is also growing concern that contemporary housing development does not  adequately account for natural hazard risk and the future impacts of climate change. There is a lack of research investigating how developers react to natural hazard risks, mapping, and policy settings.  

To remedy this weakness in the literature, this research identified and analysed diversity in the behaviour and decision-making of housing developers in New Zealand when deciding whether to purchase, develop, and/or sell sites. Special attention was given to sites subject to significant natural hazard risk(s) and the impact of policy interventions intended to control or manage development in at-risk areas. This was achieved through a review of the existing conceptual models of development and typologies of developers in the literature and a series of surveys and interviews with diverse developers throughout New Zealand. It outlines key conceptual features of the housing sector in New Zealand and proposes a new typology of housing developers that is specific to this context. 

Key findings include the significant diversity that exists between developer types in the prioritisation of key variables and values that determine whether they choose to invest in an at-risk site; diversity of reactions to natural hazard risks and disparities in the efficacy of common risk communication tools between regions; and the vital role of the insurance sector in determining future land use change patterns and natural hazard risk exposure. 

This research reveals the importance of a detailed and nuanced understanding of diverse developer behaviour and decision-making for future policymaking land use change modelling. It also highlights regional and local disparities in developer responses to current natural hazard mapping projects and the vital role of the insurance sector in determining future land use change patterns and natural hazard risk exposure by influencing in the site selection and development behaviour of housing developers.

text: Establishing a conceptual model for residential development in New Zealand There is growing concern among planners, policymakers, regulators, urban economists, and the general public that the contemporary housing market is failing to either provide an adequate supply of affordable housing. Mainstream thought attributes the ‘housing crisis’ primarily to the restriction of new housing supply by the planning system, creating an impetus to deregulate and liberalise urban land use through programmes of mass upzoning like the Auckland Unitary Plan. However, current models of urban land use change often ignore the way that diversity in developer behaviour and decision-making may affect development and land use outcomes.  Significant features of this developer diversity in a New Zealand context include the strong and growing role of Māori in development and the importance of small homeowners and investors. 

There is also growing concern that contemporary housing development does not  adequately account for natural hazard risk and the future impacts of climate change. There is a lack of research investigating how developers react to natural hazard risks, mapping, and policy settings.  

To remedy this weakness in the literature, this research identified and analysed diversity in the behaviour and decision-making of housing developers in New Zealand when deciding whether to purchase, develop, and/or sell sites. Special attention was given to sites subject to significant natural hazard risk(s) and the impact of policy interventions intended to control or manage development in at-risk areas. This was achieved through a review of the existing conceptual models of development and typologies of developers in the literature and a series of surveys and interviews with diverse developers throughout New Zealand. It outlines key conceptual features of the housing sector in New Zealand and proposes a new typology of housing developers that is specific to this context. 

Key findings include the significant diversity that exists between developer types in the prioritisation of key variables and values that determine whether they choose to invest in an at-risk site; diversity of reactions to natural hazard risks and disparities in the efficacy of common risk communication tools between regions; and the vital role of the insurance sector in determining future land use change patterns and natural hazard risk exposure. 

This research reveals the importance of a detailed and nuanced understanding of diverse developer behaviour and decision-making for future policymaking land use change modelling. It also highlights regional and local disparities in developer responses to current natural hazard mapping projects and the vital role of the insurance sector in determining future land use change patterns and natural hazard risk exposure by influencing in the site selection and development behaviour of housing developers.

year: 2025

title: Soil and permafrost in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica: Stable or dynamic?

authors: Balks, Megan R.

subjects: cryosol

abstract: Soils in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica generally comprise a surface desert pavement and a seasonally thawed active layer over permafrost. Most soils are formed on regolith such as glacial till or colluvium. Mean annual air temperatures range from -18°C to -24°C with low precipitation. The active layer ranges in depth from minimal in higher altitude, colder sites, to near 1 m deep at warmer coastal sites in the northern part of the region. Underlying permafrost may be ice-cemented, or dry with no ice cement. In some areas ice-cored moraine occurs where there is a large body of ice within the subsoil permafrost. Two examples of active gully/fan -forming events, one at Cape Evans and one at Lake Vanda are described. At the Cape Evans event water from a small lake thawed and came into contact with the ice in the underlying patterned ground ice-wedge causing the ice-wedge to melt and extensive gully erosion to occur. A fan-building event near Lake Vanda in the Wright Valley resulted in erosive and depositional features covering a horizontal distance of about 3 km and an altitudinal range of about 1400 m. Such occasional events, can be attributed to warmer than average summers, and were first described in the Ross Sea Region in the 1970s. The Cape Evans and Lake Vanda events are examples of active, rapid, landscape processes and show that landscapes are not as static as is often assumed.

text: Soil and permafrost in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica: Stable or dynamic? Soils in the Ross Sea Region of Antarctica generally comprise a surface desert pavement and a seasonally thawed active layer over permafrost. Most soils are formed on regolith such as glacial till or colluvium. Mean annual air temperatures range from -18°C to -24°C with low precipitation. The active layer ranges in depth from minimal in higher altitude, colder sites, to near 1 m deep at warmer coastal sites in the northern part of the region. Underlying permafrost may be ice-cemented, or dry with no ice cement. In some areas ice-cored moraine occurs where there is a large body of ice within the subsoil permafrost. Two examples of active gully/fan -forming events, one at Cape Evans and one at Lake Vanda are described. At the Cape Evans event water from a small lake thawed and came into contact with the ice in the underlying patterned ground ice-wedge causing the ice-wedge to melt and extensive gully erosion to occur. A fan-building event near Lake Vanda in the Wright Valley resulted in erosive and depositional features covering a horizontal distance of about 3 km and an altitudinal range of about 1400 m. Such occasional events, can be attributed to warmer than average summers, and were first described in the Ross Sea Region in the 1970s. The Cape Evans and Lake Vanda events are examples of active, rapid, landscape processes and show that landscapes are not as static as is often assumed.

year: 2016

title: Gendered geographies of resistance, resilience and reworking in Aotearoa feminist geography scholarship

authors: Adams-Hutcheson, Gail

abstract: Aotearoa New Zealand feminist geographies involve alliances of connected and vibrant researchers who pay close attention to the politics of knowledge production, power, intersectionality and decolonisation. Safe spaces to speak and write together have been nurtured over time ‘down under’ due to a collective politics of care and mentoring. This special issue demonstrates the strength of collective thinking on resistance, resilience and reworking contemporary geographical practice in Aotearoa. The four empirically based and theoretically informed articles develop new thinking about resistance to colonialism, patriarchy, racism, metricisation and oppression. These critical articles contribute to feminist geographical knowledges both locally and globally.

text: Gendered geographies of resistance, resilience and reworking in Aotearoa feminist geography scholarship Aotearoa New Zealand feminist geographies involve alliances of connected and vibrant researchers who pay close attention to the politics of knowledge production, power, intersectionality and decolonisation. Safe spaces to speak and write together have been nurtured over time ‘down under’ due to a collective politics of care and mentoring. This special issue demonstrates the strength of collective thinking on resistance, resilience and reworking contemporary geographical practice in Aotearoa. The four empirically based and theoretically informed articles develop new thinking about resistance to colonialism, patriarchy, racism, metricisation and oppression. These critical articles contribute to feminist geographical knowledges both locally and globally.

year: 2022-11-22