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Navigating Tomorrow's Town Centres: Understanding Regeneration Activities in New Zealand's Regional Towns

Author/s: Nicole Xiang, Olga Filippova, Deborah Levy

Date Published: 18/11/2024

Published in: Volume 29 - 2024 Issue 2 (pages 97 - 122)

Abstract

Purpose – The paper presents a descriptive analysis of construction activities in New Zealand’s regional town centres. Through exploratory analysis, the study aims to understand regeneration activities and assess whether these activities align with local government strategic plans and policy objectives. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilises building consent (permit) data from thirty-three New Zealand regional town centres approved between January 2009 to January 2022, as a leading indicator for building activities. An exploratory analysis is conducted, capturing scope of building activity, identifying early trends, and assessing the flow-on impact of public building work. Findings: The findings indicate that government investments in public buildings, aimed at preserving cultural heritage and improving amenities, have stimulated private investments. The residential sector, in particular, experienced significant growth, driven by a variety of projects including new builds, alterations, and conversions of existing structures. This period also saw a notable shift toward mixed-use developments, combining residential and commercial spaces. The rise in residential building activity aligns with strategic planning by territorial authorities to attract more residents to town centres. Originality/value: This study contributes to the existing literature by using building consents as a measure of building activities to identify trends and assess policy effectiveness. The analysis confirms a positive relationship between public building work and private building work. It also identifies an emerging trend of residential developments in town centres, which is consistent with the strategic planning of territorial authorities.

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Keywords

Adaptive Reuse - Building Consent - Mixed Use - Public Spending - Residential Development - Urban Regeneration

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