Regional Inequality: An architectural investigation into regional decline and urban planning frameworks at a local New Zealand scale

Abstract

During the last half of the 20th century, key economic, social and technological shifts have played a major role in regional stagnation and decline in New Zealand. Economist Shamubeel Eaqub, 2014, believes that these deep-seated forces are the key factors driving the increasing gaps between New Zealand’s regional prosperities. Eaqub controversially outlines that these prosperity gaps will in fact result in regional demise and ultimate relocation to major centres. This thesis argues that despite these predictions, New Zealand’s declining regions can self-direct change through the use of carefully employed urban design and architectural interventions. The assessment itself is calculated to cover all urban scales of a city’s make up, explicitly outlining the importance of the small city and its commonly misguided design strategies.

The Whanganui port and industrial area was chosen as the most appropriate design case study, both in relation to its physical definition as being located within a small city, and its worst-case status on the regional prosperity scale, see fig. 1.01. Research findings at a city scale suggests that the successful employment of urban design tools originating from the post-industrial cluster movement, can be used to alleviate a small cities stagnation and decline. An urban design tool embedded in the regenerative nature of geographic concentrations of; interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Moreover, at a site scale, findings indicate the benefit of architectural interventions of a relevant and iconic nature positioned within the cluster's core. This iconic status used not only for its architectural design aesthetic, but its pull factor, re-branding and regenerative nature. The overarching research progression then moves to highlight the potential of soft and hard infrastructure formations between and within each cluster. With the intent to accelerate both cluster and city success. Ultimately, this aims to realign key objectives of all scales into one cohesive design.

In summary, this research proposal will use the principles of urban and architectural interventions. Interventions that are both concerned with the limited means a small city can afford, whilst highlighting the key characteristics of the region itself. The project aims to provide a feasible example within New Zealand, specifically focusing on a small regional scale. Consequently, this should encourage cities nationwide with similar economic climates to use architecture and urban design as a key redevelopment tool. The outcome is a building design, cluster formation and its wider networks which, as the result of research, will ultimately be a regional reference, positively influencing the region in which it is located.