Streamlining urban housing development: Are there environmental sustainability impacts?

Abstract

New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, is currently facing a housing affordability crisis. Policy makers have attempted to address housing supply issues by creating Special Housing Areas (SHAs), intended to streamline consent processes and fast-track development. SHAs are predicted to accommodate around 40,000 additional dwellings over 10 or more years. This study evaluates the impact of the SHAs on measures of environmental sustainability. Using a variety of datasets we estimate the impacts of SHA development on four indicators; weighted population density, carbon emissions from commuting, active transport share, and zinc and copper pollution from storm water runoff. The research finds that SHAs' location results in marginally higher population density and lower commute emissions (given business-as-usual transport behaviour) overall. However, the small projected emissions' saving is well short of the goals for emission reduction set out by Auckland Council and New Zealand's central government. The SHAs' location is likely to mean that a smaller proportion of their commuters will be active compared to the Auckland average. The average impact per dwelling of the SHAs on stormwater pollution (zinc and copper) is lower for high density and infill developments than for greenfield developments and overall the SHAs will contribute to a higher average level of stormwater pollution. These findings are placed in the context of key policy documents, and emphasise the importance of coordinating land use, transport and infrastructure planning in order to address health, environmental and climate change concerns, while also addressing housing needs.

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