Reasons for optimism

A key takeout from the ‘Integration’ theme at the 2023 Urbanism Aotearoa conference was a two-fold optimism that structural challenges to delivering resilient and liveable built environments can be successfully navigated.

This optimism was founded on the work being done by community and industry-wide groups and entities to explore alternatives and by the potential of planning reforms to address some of the barriers.

Barriers identified in discussion included planning provisions such as single house zones that deem additional kitchens or laundries as having additional dwelling status, and that therefore act against multi-generational living. Other barriers such as financial tools and the economics of current models for financing, land and housing ownership are complex.

Defining a focus for integrated systems

Through our discussions a consensus emerged that good integration requires skilful balancing of perspectives as well as physical components. Defining good integration as delivering access to “what we need where we live” provided a helpful focus.

As we build density there was support for deliberately starting with a wholesome vision that pays more attention to amenity, and then facilitating that vision through tools and systems.

Master planning with open spaces, access to nature and convenient transport helps.

Recognising, reflecting and integrating places with their narratives, nature and people was considered vital.

There was also support for re-positioning placemaking as an upfront activity for instance, rather than being framed as forms of retrofitting.

Multiple scales of integration

Interest was expressed in how to integrate at specific urban area level as well as between local, regional, national and international levels. Approaches such as a ‘plan of plans’ that could show all planned projects on one plan as well as having a national spatial plan to facilitate collaboration between regions (for NZ Inc.) were discussed.

Looking in the mirror

It was acknowledged that as an industry we must be open to challenging each other and to be flexible enough to be prepared to change direction as needed.

There was discussion that our systems are based on assumptions that may not always do the best to serve the emerging and ongoing needs of our communities. This can include assumptions about family types that then lead to limited types of housing, or an over-emphasis on car parking considerations.

In this context it was considered that the connection between listening and illustrating is crucial to achieve planning that is consultative rather than confrontational.

Framing a wider story

Questions were asked about how to tell the story of integrated systems thinking to those who don’t attend conferences like UNZ2023, and how that story might sit under a framework of people, vision, governance and resilience. Community owned or privately owned, it was considered that development that facilitates ‘good community feel’ can deliver tangible benefits to owners and a public good.