‘We must avoid urban sprawl’
There is no doubt we have a housing supply issue in New Zealand and should be building more homes faster. However, if ‘‘more houses faster’’ is the only mantra, you can expect a game of whacka-mole as other problematic issues arise with potentially even greater negative impact.
When attention is focused primarily on supply, the discussion inevitably leads to greenfield development on the edge of urban limits, as urban sprawl is an effective way to build houses at scale and pace.
But if that is the only game in town you can expect detrimental consequences such as accelerated environmental degradation, increased poverty, lack of healthy food, raised levels of anxiety and depression, increased stress, crime and antisocial behaviour, and rising levels of inequality and unemployment.
And it certainly does not guarantee any form of housing affordability, let alone cost-ofliving affordability.
Urban sprawl often means: Using up valuable arable land that could otherwise be growing nutritious fruit and vegetables.
Living further away from amenities, shops, schools, and places of work, meaning increased reliance on private vehicles, more time commuting, and less time undertaking recreational activities or time with family and friends.
You’re less likely to know your neighbours or have a sense of community connection.
Expensive infrastructure when calculated on a per capita basis, so housing affordability is unlikely. Life is generally more expensive in suburbia.
More vehicles travelling into city centres for work, resulting in more congestion and pollution.
The critical overall factor to consider is the significant negative impact urban sprawl has on the cultural, social and economic conditions in regional cities.
As businesses and people search for geographic qualities such as affordability, employment opportunities and quality of life, cities compete on those exact attributes.
What these places need to understand is that urban sprawl will make them considerably less competitive in what is poised to be a huge growth phase for the regions, whereas an urban regeneration approach will attract people and businesses and have a positive long-term impact.
To regenerate and revitalise regional city centres, people need to live in them. That means providing modern, fit-forpurpose apartments, with great amenities such as quality green space, playgrounds and public transit. It means offering a vibrant community where people can live, work, shop and play within easy walking distance.
When people start living in city centres, it creates demand and incentives for good quality shops, eateries, cafes, bars and restaurants. This attracts more people and a ‘‘vibe’’ is generated. The snowball effect results in job creation and community connection while also reducing crime and antisocial behaviour.
Popular towns and cities around the world aren’t great because they embraced urban sprawl – they’re great because they understand a certain number of people need to live in their centres to drive demand, which then fuels a local economic engine, which in turn creates the vibrancy, prosperity and convenience that attracts yet more people.
To develop and maintain high levels of vibrancy and prosperity in a place long term, diversity and inclusion must be at the forefront of any city centre plan. That means prioritising people over cars, understanding the social and cultural elements of a place, and enabling a range of property development models to be rolled out such as cohousing, cooperative housing, Community Land Trusts, and build-to-rent.
This is Urban Regeneration. Urban Regeneration is as much about positively impacting the economic and social geography of a place, as it is about the physical environment. In other words, it is more than infrastructure and housing supply. Urban Regeneration builds wealth by recycling revenue locally as opposed to corporations and chain stores extracting wealth out of regions at the expense of the local economy.
Urban Regeneration takes a systems-thinking approach, meaning that we don’t view elements in isolation of each other. Rather, it understands that everything is connected.
By broadening our focus to more than just ‘‘more houses faster’’, we can deliver better outcomes that will bring lasting benefits for generations to come.
To regenerate and revitalise regional city centres, people need to live in them.