Reflecting on what our housing conversations no longer say

Abstract

New Zealand’s housing conversation has always been a metaphor for different things. When our country was young, and our towns and cities were new, we used to talk about building communities and creating spaces for families. Housing was synonymous with employment and industry. Governments were building New Zealand incrementally through schemes. We were building roads, towns, suburbs, schools and homes. The state housing period focused on creating suburbs of homes fit for a modern technological age. But since the 21st century, those progressive housing conversations have been replaced by something that is almost exclusively financial. It’s like houses have lost whatever character made them reflect where New Zealand was at different stages in time – expansion, industry and quality of life.