The New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) has reported that inclusive cities that respond to changing cultural demographics is one of the top issues facing the country today. This topic will be of high importance at the organisation’s annual conference in March along with climate change, wildfire risks and other environmental challenges. 

Chair of the Institute Karyn Sinclair noted that traditional city-making approacheds has failed to consider the needs of disenfranchised groups. “As a country, I don’t believe we are consistently good at delivering built environments that meet the needs of our diverse society. Youth, immigrants and urban Maori are at greatest risk of being marginalised.”

Sinclair says that a key solution is engaging with wider groups on the ethnic, age and socio-economic spectrums. “Even if we miraculously had all the housing we need we still need to ensure that communities’ function – that people are connected, supported, employed, and have adequate access to recreational and educational facilities. Enabling people to easily and safely walk to their local shops and schools is an important part of building inclusive and accessible cities, while also reducing the need for car travel and associated congestion and carbon emissions.”

As the government seeks feedback on proposed increases on landfill levies, waste disposal is another pressing issue on the agenda at this year’s conference. “We need to look at how we make real changes at the source,” says Sinclair. “I would like to see a conversation around how we start costing resource exploitation, as it is currently really cheap to pollute in New Zealand.” 

The New Zealand Planning Institute’s national conference will be held in Nelson from 31 March to 1 April 2020. The full programme can be found here.