Spatial Justice—Decolonising Our Cities and Settlements

Abstract

In my recently published book Rebuilding the Kāinga, I championed the idea of kāinga in a contemporary sense: integrated housing; cultural and communal facilities; sustainable use and management of whenua, awa, and moana; and sustainable economic activities. If implemented widely, the kāinga model will also have profound impacts on how we in Aotearoa New Zealand (Māori, Pākehā, and Tauiwi—all of us) plan our homes, towns, and cities. In this intervention, I expand on, and seek to further develop, this idea in relation to current discourse regarding economics, decolonisation, and, in particular, urban planning in Aotearoa New Zealand.