Biodiverse Residential
Development

Urban residential development is expanding globally to accommodate increasing housing demand, greatly impacting biodiversity and human well-being. Enhanced sustainability of these developments requires an integrated approach to conserving, supporting, and restoring biodiversity through the built environment and understanding the implications of residential development policies, regulations, and guidelines.

 

This paper details a review of current New Zealand policies, strategies, planning documents, and design guidelines that inform urban design and planning at national, regional, and local levels. Three major gaps in biodiversity considerations and opportunities for improvement in residential developments were identified. Firstly, current policies and strategies tend to protect significant indigenous habitats, but the interventions required to improve or retain biodiversity in residential developments are not explicitly considered. Secondly, there is a need for design guidelines with explicit biodiversity outcomes. Thirdly, existing planning documents and guidelines do not account for biodiversity monitoring and management and could be amended to include biodiversity-related outcomes.

 

We conclude that current New Zealand policies and strategies related to residential developments are inadequate and fail to recognise or encourage the enhancement of urban biodiversity in any meaningful way. Holistic and strategic ecosystem-based approaches are required to protect and enhance urban biodiversity and human well-being through the built environment to ensure that biodiversity continues to thrive in New Zealand cities and enrich the lives of urban residents.

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The full article can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128276

 

This research was conducted as part of the People, Cities, Nature project. To learn more, check out the project website: https://www.peoplecitiesnature.co.nz/

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Reference

 

Varshney, K., MacKinnon, M., Pedersen Zari, M., Shanahan, D., Woolley, C., Freeman, C., van Heezik, Y. (2024). Biodiverse Residential Development: A Review of New Zealand Policies and Strategies for Urban Biodiversity. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 128276.

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Image made using Idyllic (prompt: buildings covered with vegetation and birds people walking)

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