Balancing Green Spaces and Urban Density in New Zealand Suburbs
As New Zealand grapples with a housing crisis and the need for urban intensification, a critical challenge emerges: how to balance the demand for denser housing with the preservation and enhancement of green spaces in our suburbs. This balancing act is crucial for creating liveable, sustainable cities that cater to both human needs and environmental concerns.
The push for higher-density housing in New Zealand is driven by several factors, including population growth, housing shortages, and the need to reduce urban sprawl. The National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) has further emphasised this trend, encouraging councils to allow for more intensive development, particularly in urban areas well-served by public transport.
However, this drive towards density has raised concerns among residents and environmentalists about the potential loss of green spaces and biodiversity in our suburbs. The fear is that as we build more homes, we may be creating harder, hotter cities that lack the vital green infrastructure necessary for both human wellbeing and ecological health.
Research conducted by the Aotearoa BiodiverCity group, part of the People, Cities, Nature research programme, has highlighted some concerning trends. Their analysis of 25 developments across four New Zealand cities revealed that most fall short of providing healthy, ecologically meaningful vegetation. The shift to medium-density living often results in a loss of nearly two-thirds of the original permeable area, including essential green spaces for stormwater management and biodiversity.
This loss of green space is not just an aesthetic concern. Urban nature plays a crucial role in mitigating the impacts of climate change, such as flooding and heat waves. Green spaces also contribute significantly to human wellbeing, providing areas for recreation, relaxation, and connection with nature.
The challenge, then, is to find ways to increase housing density without sacrificing the green spaces that make our suburbs liveable and environmentally sustainable. Fortunately, there are strategies and examples from both New Zealand and abroad that can guide us towards this balance.
One approach is to prioritise building upwards rather than outwards. By constructing taller buildings, we can accommodate more people while preserving ground-level green spaces. This strategy has been successfully employed in cities like Melbourne, which aims to plant 3,000 trees annually to achieve a 40% tree canopy cover by 2040, addressing rising temperatures and enhancing biodiversity.
In New Zealand, some innovative developments are already showing how this balance can be achieved. For instance, the Hobsonville Point development in Auckland has incorporated significant green spaces, including parks, wetlands, and coastal walkways, alongside medium-density housing. This approach demonstrates that it’s possible to create compact, walkable neighbourhoods without sacrificing access to nature.
Another strategy is to incorporate green elements into the built environment itself. Green roofs, living walls, and pocket parks can all contribute to urban biodiversity and provide valuable green space in densely populated areas. Toronto’s green-roof bylaw, which requires high-density developments to have 20-60% of their roof area vegetated, offers an example of how policy can drive the integration of nature into urban design.
However, implementing these strategies in New Zealand faces several challenges. Cost is often cited as a significant barrier, with developers prioritising dwellings or car parking over greener neighbourhoods. There’s also a lack of precedents for incorporating green elements in denser developments, with solutions like vegetated roofs often perceived as experimental rather than mainstream.
To overcome these challenges, a multi-faceted approach is needed. This could include:
- Strengthening council district plans to include requirements for preserving and enhancing urban green spaces, with clear and attainable biodiversity targets.
- Developing tools to assess and improve the biodiversity performance of developments. The New Zealand Biodiversity Factor (NZBF), currently being developed by researchers, could provide valuable guidance on integrating nature into new developments.
- Prioritising good public transport options over extensive car parking, freeing up space for green areas.
- Encouraging community involvement in the management of neighbourhood green spaces, as successfully implemented overseas.
- Educating developers, planners, and the public about the benefits of integrating nature into urban design and the long-term value it adds to developments.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on urban green spaces highlights the importance of planning for green spaces from the outset, particularly in new subdivisions. The report notes that it’s much harder to retrofit green spaces into existing neighbourhoods, emphasising the need for proactive planning.
Moreover, the report found that urban green space has been declining over time in New Zealand cities. Between 1980 and 2016, green space per person fell by at least 30% in Auckland, and at least 20% in Hamilton, with most of this loss occurring on private residential land. This trend underscores the urgency of addressing the balance between density and green space in our urban planning.
It’s also worth noting that not all intensification is the same. The style of infill townhouse development currently common in many New Zealand cities comes with particular risks for existing urban green spaces. Building upwards, rather than through low-rise infill development, can use urban land more efficiently and reduce pressure to develop green spaces elsewhere in the city.
As we move forward, it’s crucial to recognise that green spaces provide benefits over very long time horizons. The ongoing shift towards more densely populated cities and the emerging impacts of climate change will likely make urban parks, reserves, gardens, vegetation, and street trees even more valuable in the future.
Balancing green spaces and urban density in New Zealand suburbs is not just about preserving nature in our cities – it’s about creating liveable, resilient urban environments that can adapt to future challenges. By embracing innovative design strategies, strengthening planning regulations, and fostering a culture that values urban nature, we can create denser suburbs that are also greener, healthier, and more sustainable.
As Yolanda van Heezik, a professor of ecology at the University of Otago, aptly puts it: “As urban populations grow, we’ll have to adapt to higher-density living. That does not mean we have to miss out on nearby nature.” The challenge for New Zealand’s urban planners, developers, and communities is to ensure that as our suburbs grow denser, they also grow greener.
