Housing Intensification in Auckland, New Zealand: Implications for Children and Families

Abstract

While commonplace throughout most of the world, inner-city apartments have often been perceived as unsuitable for children in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, where discourses of houses, gardens and open spaces as being desirable sites for children prevail. However, increasing awareness of the need for environmental sustainability has placed the viability of sprawling suburbs in question. As city centres intensify, more families are moving into inner-city apartments. In a study carried out in response to this change, in-depth interviews with parents living in Auckland's CBD found that key drivers were affordability, less reliance on cars and the convenience of the central location. Drawbacks included poor quality apartment design and lack of play space for children, both inside apartment complexes and outdoors. Fears about children's safety were strong. An assessment of the findings raises questions about the social sustainability of recent apartment developments in Auckland, particularly for families.

Keywords:

• Families
• Auckland
• inner-city apartments
• affordability
• amenity access
• sustainability

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the participants for their willingness to engage in this project and to staff from Auckland City Council and Waitakere City Council for their input. Funding is acknowledged from the BRCSS Network, a Tertiary Education Commission funded programme set up in 2004 with the aim of promoting social science research, which made this project possible.