scholarly journals New Zealand Apartment Living: Developing a Liveability Evaluation Index

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jessica Bennett
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
User Friendliness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Fit For Purpose ◽  
Acoustic Environments

<p>Over the past decade there has been a major shift in the housing preferences of New Zealanders away from low density, suburban, stand-alone housing towards higher density, urban apartments. As more people experience this style of accommodation, liveability issues have become apparent. An international literature review has found a gap between the research-based academic knowledge and the expectations of prospective occupants as represented by the national, popular press. For occupants their crucial issues are readily assessable (e.g. spatial and visual design), but often these issues do not have direct or long term health effects. The academic literature minimises these issues while placing importance on health and liveability issues (e.g. thermal and acoustic environments). This thesis presents the development of an assessment methodology to enable prospective buyers/tenants to easily and quickly evaluate and compare apartment liveability over a wide range of indicators, not just those of immediate concern. The New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index [NZ ALI] considers over 100 factors that influence liveability in higher density housing and presents this information in a simple, easily understandable format. The indicators have been organised into a weighted hierarchal system divided into five main categories: Community; Configuration; Governance; Indoor Environmental Quality; and Quality. There are 332 components within the New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index and all are weighted in order to provide a simple Liveability Rating (single score) or Liveability Profile (performance profile). Six criteria were applied in the development of the New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index to ensure that it is fit for purpose. The development criteria considered relevancy to liveability, objectivity & practicality of assessments, accuracy of evaluations, and generality & user friendliness of the tool. The New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index is intended to provide the public with a simple, easy to use tool to help them make informed decisions when purchasing or leasing apartments. It will also be of value to regulatory agencies to help better understand the minimum liveability standards for apartments, as well as to designers and developers to help them better meet the needs of their current clients and future building users.</p>

scholarly journals New Zealand Apartment Living: Developing a Liveability Evaluation Index

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jessica Bennett
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
User Friendliness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Fit For Purpose ◽  
Acoustic Environments

<p>Over the past decade there has been a major shift in the housing preferences of New Zealanders away from low density, suburban, stand-alone housing towards higher density, urban apartments. As more people experience this style of accommodation, liveability issues have become apparent. An international literature review has found a gap between the research-based academic knowledge and the expectations of prospective occupants as represented by the national, popular press. For occupants their crucial issues are readily assessable (e.g. spatial and visual design), but often these issues do not have direct or long term health effects. The academic literature minimises these issues while placing importance on health and liveability issues (e.g. thermal and acoustic environments). This thesis presents the development of an assessment methodology to enable prospective buyers/tenants to easily and quickly evaluate and compare apartment liveability over a wide range of indicators, not just those of immediate concern. The New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index [NZ ALI] considers over 100 factors that influence liveability in higher density housing and presents this information in a simple, easily understandable format. The indicators have been organised into a weighted hierarchal system divided into five main categories: Community; Configuration; Governance; Indoor Environmental Quality; and Quality. There are 332 components within the New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index and all are weighted in order to provide a simple Liveability Rating (single score) or Liveability Profile (performance profile). Six criteria were applied in the development of the New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index to ensure that it is fit for purpose. The development criteria considered relevancy to liveability, objectivity & practicality of assessments, accuracy of evaluations, and generality & user friendliness of the tool. The New Zealand Apartment Liveability Index is intended to provide the public with a simple, easy to use tool to help them make informed decisions when purchasing or leasing apartments. It will also be of value to regulatory agencies to help better understand the minimum liveability standards for apartments, as well as to designers and developers to help them better meet the needs of their current clients and future building users.</p>

The long-term conservation of forest diversity in New Zealand

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ogden
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Forest Diversity ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Introduced Plants ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Average Loss ◽  
Endemic Flora

The largely endemic flora of New Zealand is a remnant of the Cretaceous flora of Gondwana, supplemented by later additions from Australia and the tropics. Semi-natural plant communities cover about 50% of the country, and a scheme for the protection of supposedly representative areas is in place. Existing reserves do not adequately reflect the patterns of plant species diversity. Many are modified by introduced animals and alien plants. The latter are being actively introduced into New Zealand at the rate of c. 11 species per year. Measures of diversity are discussed and the broad pattern of (gamma) diversity and endemicity in the country is described. A comparison is made between (alpha) diversity levels in Beech Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioidesand Kauri Agathis australisforest. Within each of these two forest types there are similar levels of alpha-diversity over a wide range of latitude. Altitudinal alpha-diversity trends indicate an average loss of 3.4 species per 100 m of altitude. This can be accounted for by the reduction of land surface area with increasing altitude on conical or ridge-shaped mountains. The altitudinal data emphasize the importance of the lowlands in the conservation of bio-diversity. The Holocene history of the forests in New Zealand suggests that the concept of "representativeness" is flawed: forest varies continuously in time and space. It may be possible to create some "living museums" of the past biota of New Zealand, but unless there are radical changes in our ability to eradicate animal pests and introduced plants, the composition of mainland forest reserves in the lowlands will change dramatically over the next few centuries. Conservation effort on saving endangered birds may have been at the expense of long-term "habitat" survival on the mainland.

Granting Immunity: Authorisation and “Public Benefit”

2020 ◽  
pp. 231-263
Author(s):  
Rex Ahdar
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Benefits ◽  
Local Companies ◽  
Court Of Appeal ◽  
Total Welfare ◽  
Term Benefit ◽  
Over Time

This chapter analyses the authorisation mechanism—a demanding cost-benefit test for those applicants who seek advance approval of their potentially contravening conduct. The “public benefits” and detriments the Commission can assess under this test are very broad. The potentially relevant matters go well beyond economic efficiencies to intangible and unquantified gains or harms. A thorny issue has been the distributional question. Does the Act have an implicit bias in favour of consumers when it comes to weighing benefits and detriments? Must benefits be passed on to consumers? The Chicagoan thinking came to dominate and the Commission pronounced it was “neutral” regarding wealth transfers from consumers to producers. The 2001 Amendment, which altered the purpose of the Act to clarify that competition operated for the long-term benefit of New Zealand consumers, did not initially alter the Chicagoan stance. Over time, however, the purely neutral stance towards wealth transfers has been eroded. The Court of Appeal decided that private gains, redounding solely to the companies alone, were not sufficient. “Modified total welfare” arrived as a new term in the New Zealand antitrust lexicon. The chapter also analyses the non-neutral stance where the benefits go to foreign owners of local companies.

scholarly journals Contesting Symbolic Space: The Struggle over the Employment Contracts Act 1991

1970 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Scott
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
Symbolic Space ◽  
Media System ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
The Media

This article is based on research concerning the relationship between the neo-liberal project in New Zealand and the mass media since 1984. New Zealand has undoubtedly experienced a major shift in public policy orientation in correspondence with structural changes in the political economy. The assumed role of government under social democratic Keynesianism was questioned and restructuring of the state became central to the neo-liberal project. The resultant policies reorganised economic, political and social priorities were rapidly implemented and had a detrimental impact upon various sectors of society. Consequently, such policies had to be rationalised and strategically promoted in order to marginalise opposition and allay public scepticism. As neo-liberalism was being transmitted to the public, New Zealand's media system was undergoing changes in terms of the surrounding economic environment and media-government relationships. Such circumstances enabled both the fourth Labour Government and the succeeding National administration to routinely communicate their messages. This claim required illustration. To this end I undertook research on the debate conducted in and through the media over the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act (1991).

Engaging the Public on Technical Issues

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan Breen ◽  
Elizabeth Atherton ◽  
Steve Barlow
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
The Uk

United Kingdom Nirex Limited (Nirex) is responsible for providing the UK with environmentally-sound and publicly-acceptable options for the long-term management of radioactive materials generated by the Nation’s commercial, medical, research and defence activities. An important part of Nirex’s responsibilities in developing these options is to build acceptance of its concepts through effective dialogue and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. One of the options developed by Nirex for the long-term isolation of intermediate-level and some low-level from the accessible environment is to place these wastes in a deep underground repository, excavated in stable rock formations. The repository would remain accessible to allow future generations to have the choice of continuing to store the waste, or to dispose of the wastes by sealing and closing the repository. In conducting the scientific and technical research on this phased disposal concept, Nirex wanted its work programmes to take account of any public concerns with regard to radioactive waste and its management and proposed to develop its understanding of such concerns through public engagement. In October 2001, Nirex engaged an independent organisation to conduct a series of focus group discussions. Focus group meetings were arranged in 4 locations across the UK, selecting varying groups in terms of age, lifestage and socio-economic circumstances in order to engage a broad cross-section of the UK population. Each group attended two, 2-hour sessions on successive evenings. The first session was a general discussion of the issues of nuclear energy and radioactive waste. The second session focused on the more specific detail of the Nirex Phased Disposal Concept. Explanatory material was given to participants at each session. The work has provided some very useful information on issues, which the focus groups considered significant. The groups were able, in the short time available, to grasp many important issues and to provide their views across a range of technical areas. This work has helped Nirex to better understand ways of engaging the public in technical issues and to appreciate some of the key areas and concerns on the more technical areas associated with phased disposal. Several technical queries were identified, which the facilitators were unable to answer during the focus group discussions — Nirex has subsequently provided answers to these questions and made these available on the Nirex Bibliography. This paper describes the approach taken for the focus groups and outlines key findings from the work and some implications for Nirex in communicating technical issues to the public.

scholarly journals Analysis of a 39-year continuous atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> record from Baring Head, New Zealand

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 2683-2697 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. B. Stephens ◽  
G. W. Brailsford ◽  
A. J. Gomez ◽  
K. Riedel ◽  
S. E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
South Pole ◽  
The South ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. We present an analysis of a 39-year record of continuous atmospheric CO2 observations made at Baring Head, New Zealand, filtered for steady background CO2 mole fractions during southerly wind conditions. We discuss relationships between variability in the filtered CO2 time series and regional to global carbon cycling. Baring Head is well situated to sample air that has been isolated from terrestrial influences over the Southern Ocean, and experiences extended episodes of strong southerly winds with low CO2 variability. The filtered Baring Head CO2 record reveals an average seasonal cycle with amplitude of 0.95 ppm that is 13% smaller and 3 weeks earlier in phase than that at the South Pole. Seasonal variations in a given year are sensitive to the timing and magnitude of the combined influences of Southern Ocean CO2 fluxes and terrestrial fluxes from both hemispheres. The amplitude of the seasonal cycle varies throughout the record, but we find no significant long-term seasonal changes with respect to the South Pole. Interannual variations in CO2 growth rate in the Baring Head record closely match the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, reflecting the global reach of CO2 mole fraction anomalies associated with this cycle. We use atmospheric transport model results to investigate contributions to seasonal and annual-mean components of the observed CO2 record. Long-term trends in mean gradients between Baring Head and other stations are predominately due to increases in Northern Hemisphere fossil-fuel burning and Southern Ocean CO2 uptake, for which there remains a wide range of future estimates. We find that the postulated recent reduction in the efficiency of Southern Ocean anthropogenic CO2 uptake, as a result of increased zonal winds, is too small to be detectable as significant differences in atmospheric CO2 between mid to high latitude Southern Hemisphere observing stations.

scholarly journals Analysis of a 39-yr continuous atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> record from Baring Head, New Zealand

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 15237-15277 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. B. Stephens ◽  
G. W. Brailsford ◽  
A. J. Gomez ◽  
K. Riedel ◽  
S. E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
South Pole ◽  
The South ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. We present an analysis of a 39-yr record of continuous atmospheric CO2 observations made at Baring Head, New Zealand, filtered for steady CO2 mole fractions during southerly wind conditions. We discuss relationships between variability in the filtered CO2 time series and regional to global carbon cycling. Baring Head is well situated to sample air that has been isolated from terrestrial influences over the Southern Ocean, and experiences extended periods of strong southerly winds with low CO2 variability. The filtered Baring Head CO2 record reveals an average seasonal cycle with amplitude of 0.95 ppm that is 13% smaller and 3 weeks earlier in phase than that at the South Pole. Seasonal variations in a given year are sensitive to the timing and magnitude of the combined influences of Southern Ocean CO2 fluxes and terrestrial fluxes from both hemispheres. The amplitude of the seasonal cycle varies throughout the record, but we find no significant long-term seasonal changes with respect to the South Pole. Interannual variations in CO2 growth rate in the Baring Head record closely match the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, reflecting the global reach of CO2 mole fraction anomalies associated with this cycle. We use atmospheric transport model results to investigate contributions to seasonal and annual-mean components of the observed CO2 record. Long-term trends in mean gradients between Baring Head and other stations are predominately due to increases in Northern-Hemisphere fossil-fuel burning and Southern Ocean CO2 uptake, for which there remains a wide range of future estimates. We find that the postulated recent reduction in the efficiency of Southern Ocean anthropogenic CO2 uptake as a result of increased zonal winds is too small to be detectable as significant differences in atmospheric CO2 between mid- to high-latitude Southern Hemisphere observing stations.

scholarly journals Contextual Influences on the Perception of Bullying Behaviours for Youth in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jennifer Sian Jeffrey
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Contextual Influences ◽  
The Public ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Short And Long Term

<p>Bullying has gained a lot of attention in the public and academic spheres over the past two decades (Carrera, DePalma, & Lameiras, 2011; Monks et al., 2009) and is considered to be a very serious international issue (Due et al., 2005; Mullis, Martin, Foy, & Arora, 2012). There is extensive research based on the experiences of bullying, which has examined prevalence rates (Green, Harcourt, Mattioni, & Prior, 2013), distinctions between different types of bullying (Rivers & Smith, 1994; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005) as well as the short and long term impacts (Coggan, Bennett, Hooper, & Dickinson, 2003). Through this, a strong research based understanding of bullying has been developed and a consistent definition established (Canty, Stubbe, Steers, & Collings, 2014; Carroll-Lind, 2009). However, previous research has primarily focused on the experiences of bullying, and few studies have examined how bullying is understood from the perspectives of young people. The present study aimed to bridge this gap by exploring young people’s understanding of bullying behaviour in New Zealand. Twenty participants completed a short questionnaire and structured interview, where they discussed four hypothetical scenarios, each describing a different type of bullying in a different setting. Results demonstrated that young people maintain a much broader conception of bullying than what is currently defined by academia. The academic criteria of intention to harm, repetition and an imbalance of power were not central to young people’s definitions of bullying. Rather, factors such as, the reaction of the victim, how public the behaviour was and the role of friendship were more instrumental in shaping young people’s bullying perceptions and definitions. Furthermore, it was found that the perceived relationship between bullies, victims and bystanders as well as gender differences, also influenced participants’ understanding of bullying behaviours. These findings yield important implications for the development and efficacy of intervention programs. Limitations and avenues of future research are also discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Rising Sulphur and Raising Sheep: Landscape, Identity and Amateur Film in New Zealand c.1923-1939

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rosina Hickman
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Visual Culture ◽  
Film History ◽  
Cultural Discourses ◽  
The Public ◽  
Home Movies ◽  
Geothermal Activity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Do So

<p>Looking at early examples of amateur filmmaking from the period 1923-1939, which have been deposited in New Zealand's national film archive, Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision, this thesis considers how amateur practice both relates to and deviates from other contemporary forms of visual culture such as professional cinema. Internationally, scholars and archivists have recently begun to examine ways that amateur films or home movies, which document personal, local and everyday experience, supplement other sources of visual history. There have, however, been few studies to date of this aspect of New Zealand's film history. While the idiosyncratic language of films intended for private use complicates their interpretation in an archive, it is argued that home movies display a 'referential coherence' in relation to other media, which offers a way of understanding amateur films as historical documents in the public domain. This relationship is explored looking at holiday films recorded at a popular sightseeing destination and films depicting working life on sheep farms. Portrayed as an exotic wonderland with spectacular geothermal activity and authentic Māori culture on display, Rotorua, as seen in promotional media, exemplified the widespread representation of New Zealand as a scenic playground. Amateur films offer a more ambivalent view of the tourist locality's geography and inhabitants. Made by outsiders familiar with popular representations, amateur tourist films resemble the imagery of professional media in many respects, however, they do so largely without articulating the simplistic narratives of publicity material. Picturesque images depicting rural New Zealand as an idyllic pastoral paradise have a long history across a wide range of media. While idealised scenic views of the countryside, which consistently ignored the social realities of rural existence, appear to presuppose the unfamiliar gaze of an (urban) outsider, rural residents recorded their own impressions of their surroundings on film. Less concerned with scenery than with the scene of daily life, amateur farming films document specific concrete experiences in a particular time and place, yet simultaneously appear to share, if not so much the iconography or aesthetics of professional media, at least some of the wider aspirations of cultural discourses in circulation. It may be concluded therefore that the study of amateur media production contributes to an understanding of how individuals and groups internalise and reproduce, or alternatively disregard, prevailing social ideologies.</p>

scholarly journals Fiscal and other risks over the long term

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Upton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Radar Screen ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fiscal Prudence

After 13 years’ absence from any involvement in public life in New Zealand it has been a welcome challenge to re-immerse myself in issues with which I used to be familiar. I’d like to focus this article on why we should see the Treasury’s review of the government’s long-term fiscal outlook as an exercise in managing a wide range of risks under conditions of significant uncertainty; and how, from a political point of view, one might seek to stop the need for fiscal prudence sliding off the radar screen. 

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