Zealand Cities Research Articles

Further evidence on the existence of housing market bubbles

Studies of United States, Swedish, and Australian cities have obtained mixed results regarding the existence of housing market bubbles. The US estimates imply large bubbles on its two coasts, but not inland, and the Australian and Swedish estimates imply insignificant and modest bubbles, respectively. The results of the present work for three New Zealand cities are most similar to those for Swedish cities. Like evidence from the other countries, real income (employment and the real wage rate), real construction costs, and the real after-tax interest rate all matter. While the estimation methodology is similar to an error correction model, it is believed to be a superior method when the data time series is short. In any event, tests for house price bubbles would seem to be necessary in house price research.

Rooms of Their Own: Public toilets and gendered citizens in a New Zealand city, 1860‐1940

Differences in the provision of public toilets for men and women point to the gendering of citizens. In the later nineteenth century, provision of public toilets in the city of Dunedin centered on the management of male bodies as the meaning of 'public decency' was transformed, while women were catered for as consumers. By the beginning of the twentieth century, when provision for women became a public issue, it was debated in terms of women's special character as citizens. The bodily and spatial characteristics of public and private were renegotiated around this issue: as women became more public, toilets became more private. This article draws on debates about the sexed and gendered body in public space, maternal citizenship, the civilising and modernising of landscapes and bodies, and shifting conceptions of privacy and public.

Agenda 21 in New Zealand: Not Dead, Just Resting

Despite introducing ground-breaking environmental legislation in 1991 and supporting the theory of sustainable development, New Zealand has not promoted the process at a practical level. As a result, only a few New Zealand city and district councils have tried to adopt a Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) as a ‘blueprint’ for sustainable development. This article summarises the efforts of seven New Zealand district or city councils that have done so. It goes on to review the pros and cons of adopting LA 21 and concludes that while there is now renewed interest in sustainable development and LA 21 nationally, New Zealand must adopt these processes cautiously.

The Inner-city Apartment versus the Suburb: Housing Sub-markets in a New Zealand City

This paper addresses a new phenomenon in New Zealand—the growing demand for residence within the central business district. The construction of inner-city apartments has seen a ready response by local authorities keen to rejuvenate a demand for downtown services, by developers facing a slow-down in suburban growth and by absentee owners as well as owner-occupiers seeking to broaden their residential portfolios. The paper argues that, although we are witness to the emergence of a new and different housing sub-market, the inner-city apartment is in fact a natural extension of an existing demand for residence close to the city; its recent appearance as inner-city apartments is simply a reflection of the competition for inner-city land rather than the revealed preference of buyers for a wholly different type of housing. Far from turning their back on the single-dwelling unit, most apartment buyers seek dwelling attributes similar to those of their single-unit, suburban counterparts. What is unique to this new sub-market therefore is its location. The inner-city apartment is primarily a geographical reaction to the marked physical separation of residence, paid work and live entertainment which characterises the suburb rather than a switch of preference for a wholly new residential form. Although these are quite distinct housing forms, there remain strong market connections between the inner-city apartment and detached, single-unit dwellings in the suburbs. Fashionable though these new apartment units are, New Zealand housing continues to be dominated by low-density, suburban, single-unit dwellings.

Avoiding the mistakes of the 'mother country': the New Zealand garden city movement 1900-1926

An anxiety that the urban problems of Britain might become entrenched in New Zealand's cities led to widespread middle class support for the ideas of the garden city movement in New Zealand during the 1910s. The New Zealand movement reached its zenith at the 1919 Town Planning Conference, where many delegates declared that the construction of garden city-type developments would solve pressing social problems. However, improved economic conditions and a public reluctance to embrace the movement's social agenda led to waning of support for the movement during the 1920s. Even so, a few garden suburb-type developments were constructed in New Zealand. Another success was the introduction of a Town Planning Act in 1926. The movement went into abeyance in the late 1920s.

Cancer incidence, morbidity and geothermal air pollution in Rotorua, New Zealand.

The New Zealand city of Rotorua sits on a geothermal field. However, little is known about the possible health impacts of the geothermal emissions. This was an ecological study that examined cancer incidence and morbidity data for Rotorua. Cancer registry and hospital discharge (morbidity) data were obtained for the decade 1981-1990. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated comparing Rotorua residents with those living in the rest of New Zealand. Diagnostic categories examined were based on known target organ systems of hydrogen sulphide toxicity. Of the cancer sites, there was an elevated rate for nasal cancers. However, this was based on only four cases. The SIR for cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung in Maori women was 1.48 (95% CI: 1.03-2.06). This was not explained by higher smoking rates. In the hospital discharge data, a number of diseases showed elevated SIR, notably diseases of the nervous system and the eye. To some extent, these effects were characteristic of effects induced by hydrogen sulphide and also mercury compounds. However, there were few data with which to assess whether significant mercury exposures had occurred, and other explanations were possible. There are inadequate exposure data for Rotorua to permit conclusions on likely causal associations. However, some of the elevated disease rates were at least consistent with what one might expect to find if sufficient exposures to hydrogen sulphide and/or mercury were occurring.

The Global Meets the Local

From the 1970s through the 1990s, rapid change has transpired within New Zealand. Accompanying the restructuring that has occurred has been a search for new economic opportunities for the cities. One avenue has been provided by tourism. The stimulus of international tourism, in particular, has resulted in the redevelopment of cities along new lines designed to capture an increasing proportion of this new form of economic activity. The author explores the dimensions of these urban changes through case studies of three New Zealand cities: Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

Susceptibility to goods on promotion in supermarkets

This study draws upon script theory to examine deal-proneness among grocery shoppers. Set in a New Zealand city, the study tested the proposition that shoppers with a written shopping list will buy fewer items ‘on promotion’ in the supermarket than their non-list counterparts. Preliminary analysis detected little difference in purchase incidence and expenditure upon on promotion items by these two groups. However, once 145 items that were both on promotion and on shoppers' lists were withdrawn from the analysis, the resultant statistically significant differences in the hypothesized direction suggested that non-list shoppers are more deal-prone.

The Status Of Lone And Partnered Women Seeking State Housing Assistance In Two New Zealand Cities

Women householders living alone or with children have been identified as one of a number of marginalised groups within the housing markets of Western cities. An extensive literature suggests that many such women are likely to experience discrimination, poverty and inadequate housing. In this paper we review the status of lone women parents in New Zealand housing policy as a prelude to reporting on the housing experiences of a sample of applicants seeking state housing assistance in Auckland and Christchurch. The samples, drawn from the waiting lists of the (former) Housing Corporation of New Zealand (1989-90), included both women with partners (n=50) and women living alone or with children (n=119). The lone women were slightly poorer, they had less access to private transport, and they reported higher levels of residential mobility. However, these women reported that the physical condition of their housing was significantly better, and characteristics of the neighbourhood such as safety and proximity to friends were more important influences on their housing satisfaction than for partnered women. We conclude that lone women appear to make more demands on their neighbourhood, and more often seek housing assistance from the state for reasons of refuge than is the case for partnered women.

Insights and challenges associated with determining seismic design forces in a loading code

This paper presents and discusses a number of important topics which affect the determination of seismic design forces in a loading code. These range broadly from seismic hazard through to design philosophy and include the following aspects: influence of uncertainty in determining seismic hazard, seismic hazard parameters, site effects, probability level of design ground motions, role of deformations in seismic design, performance expectations and level of protection. The discussion makes frequent reference to the seismic provisions of both the National Building Code of Canada (1995) and the New Zealand Loading Standard (1992). Also, comparisons are made of seismic hazard and seismic design forces for several Canadian and New Zealand cities.

Housing stressors, social support and psychological distress

This paper explores the links between housing stressors, social supports and psychological distress. It was hypothesised that exposure to housing stressors would be significantly related to psychological distress, but that the adverse effects of housing stressors would be moderated by perceptions of social support resources. In other words, the stress/symptom relationship would be attenuated for individuals who believe that they have active and supportive social relationships. The results of a study conducted in the two New Zealand cities of Auckland and Christchurch partially confirmed this hypothesis, indicating that social support plays a role in mitigating the adverse effects of housing stressors. However, this relationship depends on the severity of the housing stressors. Among our respondents, the presence of social support was indeed associated with reduced symptom levels for those exposed to moderate housing stressors. However, among respondents subjected to high levels of housing stressors, social support was not associated with reduced psychological distress, indicating the need for a more specific policy response to the issue of seriously deficient housing.

SUPERMARKET SHOPPING LISTS: THEIR EFFECT ON CONSUMER EXPENDITURE

The presence of a written shopping list on a major grocery buying trip to the supermarket is tangible evidence of out‐of‐store planning by the shopper. This pre‐planning may influence both time spent in store and grocery expenditure, two factors of importance to supermarket retailers. Set in a New Zealand city, examines the extent to which a written grocery shopping list affects these two factors by comparing the behaviour of two matched samples, one with lists and one without. The findings are conclusive: written shopping lists significantly reduce average expenditure; the presence of children accompanying the shopper significantly increases expenditure and time spent in store. While supermarket retailers cannot dissuade customers from bringing a written shopping list to the store, they can encourage customers to spend more time in‐store, and to shop with someone else, thereby increasing average expenditure.

Is the prevalence of Parkinson's disease in New Zealand really changing?

The prevalence of idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (IPD) in Dunedin, New Zealand on 31st July 1990 was 110.4/100,000. When corrected to a standard population based on the 1960 U.S. census, the prevalence fell to 76.0/100,000 due to changes in the age structure of the population. The corrected prevalence in Wellington (another New Zealand city), in 1962 was 99.6 (before the introduction of levodopa), and in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1984 was 102.7. The principal difference was fewer people under 65 years of age in our study. Case finding methods and diagnostic criteria were similar in all three studies, and case ascertainment was adequate. Under representation of younger people could be due to either a lower incidence rate or poorer survival due to treatment with high doses of levodopa compounds. Prospective research is required to explain our findings.

Community Alcohol Action Programme Evaluation in New Zealand

This article is concerned with two evaluations of community alcohol action programmes in New Zealand. The first programme was a demonstration programme using a quasi-experimental design to examine the effect of a media campaign and alcohol community organisers in provincial New Zealand cities for a two-year period in the early 1980s. The second was a project run in one city for three months in 1987, consisting of enforcement of drunk -driving laws and community coordination. This article sets out a summary of the programmes; distinguishes between evaluation of demonstration programmes versus other potentially less research-driven programmes; highlights the importance of an individual assessment of what evaluation is appropriate for any such programme; and stresses using a range of appropriate formative, process and outcome evaluation methods right across the lifecycle of a programme.

The December 28, 1989 Newcastle, Australia earthquake


 
 
 
 The December 28, 1989 Newcastle earthquake resulted in the loss of twelve lives and caused significant damage to many masonry buildings. Although Australia has previously experienced earthquakes of greater magnitude and intensity, this was the first such event to occur near a highly populated area in that country. While this earthquake is a relatively moderate event in international terms, it is nevertheless of particular interest to New Zealand earthquake engineers and researchers and the insurance industry because of the social and organisational similarities between Newcastle and a number of large New Zealand cities. The nature of the damage to buildings and services is summarised, along with insurance aspects and the response of local authorities.
 
 
 

The value of cat ownership to elderly women living alone.

A survey of elderly women was carried out to discover their attitudes towards pet cats. The women were living in publicly-owned pensioner housing in two New Zealand cities. In one city cats were allowed in the pensioners' housing and in the other city they were not. Attitudes towards cats were more positive in the city where cats were allowed, and more positive if pensioners owned a cat, or wished to own one. As positive attitudes towards cats outweighed negative ones, the City Authority which had prohibited cats reversed its policy. There was conflicting evidence about the role of cats in reducing feelings of loneliness. It appears that "loneliness" signifies the loss of many aspects of social interaction and that pets may substitute for only some of these interactions.

Cardinal Place Geometry

Cardinal Place Geometry

Colonial Cottage to State House: One Century of Housing Styles in Gisborne, New Zealand

The small New Zealand city of Gisborne, with its roots in the lute Wth century, contains house styles characteristic of New Zealand's urban residential history. Small cottages, Colonial bungalows, simple Colonial Georgian and Regency styles, Victorian Gothic style houses, “villas,” “Bay Villas,” “California Bungalows” and “State Houses” are all found in Gisborne. Questions of the origin of each style and whether these styles display any distinctive New Zealand characteristics are addressed in this study.

ACCESSIBILITY MODELLING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH SERVICE PLANNING

The appropriateness of accessibility models for evaluating efficiency and equity in the distribution of general practitioners in New Zealand cities is examined, using the example of Christchurch. Such models, commonly used in town planning and increasingly in health services research abroad, represent an objective technique for aiding decision‐makers in assessing planning options. There are considerable variations in accessibility to primary health care in Christchurch with the greatest shortage being experienced in the eastern suburbs. Computer simulation of several possible locations for new doctors' surgeries indicates a decentralised pattern to be most equitable and efficient.

Correlation between uropathogenic properties of Escherichia coli from urinary tract infections and the antibody-coated bacteria test and comparison with faecal strains.

Strains of Escherichia coli isolated from adult females with symptomatic urinary tract infection were found to possess the following properties significantly more frequently than faecal strains: (i) high K-antigen titre: (ii) haemolysin; (iii) type 1 pili; (iv) mannose-resistant haemagglutination; (v) fermentation of dulcitol and salicin; (vi) O serotype 2, 6 and 75; (vii) H serotype 1. E. coli isolated form urine specimens containing significant numbers of antibody-coated bacteria were richer in these seven properties than strains from urines without detectable antibody coated bacteria. The O and H serotypes of E. coli obtained from patients with urinary tract infection in two New Zealand cities were compared with those reported in the world literature and found to be similar.