The 0.0047 Acre Dream

Abstract

Private home ownership, the promise of fertile land and social justice were highly motivational drivers for early migration to New World countries. Escaping the oppressive urban conditions of the industrial age, settlers were able to realise the picturesque semi-rural life, as idealised by the privileged elite of that time (Fishman 1987). The “Quarter Acre Dream,” an antipodean articulation of these desires and a foundation of the New Zealand suburban house, provided families with the opportunity to realise their aspirations of self-sufficiency while cementing the low-density suburban typology as an archetype of New Zealand’s urban identity (Schrader 2005). Modern New Zealand cities, however, are now forced to consider the environmental impacts of such ideals; as populations expand and diversify new, more intensive, residential forms have resulted. This thesis argues that the autonomous nature of the suburban typology still pervades the mass consensus of home, and that current intensification strategies have not consciously considered this innate psychological motivation in the development of new residential forms. Micro-infill is introduced as a means of reconciling some of the fundamental aspirations of traditional housing markets, with advantages of higher density living, and argues that the urban fabric of inner city intensification carries the potential to become a contemporary expression of the “Quarter Acre.”