The NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities has won a bid to host the 21st International Conference on Urban Health in November 2025 in Wellington. This is the first time the International Society of Urban Health's annual conference has come to our region and it is a major coup for our research centre and a tribute to the hard work and support of our partners Wellington City Council, Business Events Wellington, Tourism New Zealand and the University of Otago. It also reflects the importance of the urban health challenges our region is encountering and our responses to these challenges.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman comments in this op-ed in The Press on the Government's recent policy proposal to underwrite large housing developers to build more private homes. She suggests it is ill-conceived and an attempt to correct a collapse in the construction industry brought on in part by the Coalition Government's own earlier policies.
Researchers from the Wellbeing strand of the Public Housing and Urban Regeneration research programme have published an article finding that tenants in public housing have higher wellbeing than tenants in private rentals and similar wellbeing to owner-occupiers. The researchers attribute this increased wellbeing to security of tenure. Other factors that affect wellbeing are the condition of the home (cold and damp), perceptions of neighbourhood suitability and public transport quality and availability. Read the full article.
A recently published study shows housing people who've experienced homelessness and simultaneously providing them with specialist support services dramatically improves their wellbeing.
A Whakawhanaungatanga Māori Wellbeing Model has been developed by researchers from the Māori Strand of the Public Housing and Urban Regeneration Research programme. This model is intended as a resource to guide policy makers and others to create and manage public housing that can enhance Māori wellbeing by putting relationships, with both places and people, at the heart of housing for Māori.
New research just released by Motu Research and NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities finds that public housing tenants have higher levels of wellbeing than do private sector tenants.
At this year's University of Otago Research Awards the premier award, the Distinguished Research Medal, was awarded to Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman comments on key announcements in the recent 2023 Budget which have implications for housing and public health. These include new public housing, extending the Warmer Kiwi Homes’ Programme, and investment in infrastructure. The Professor outlines where and how these initiatives will help housing in Aotearoa New Zealand
Philippa Howden-Chapman and Ralph Chapman were interviewed for this Spinoff article on adaptation to climate change and featuring a local level response at an iwi farm near Wellington.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, Professor Nevil Pierse and Dr Brodie Fraser highlight in this briefing that improving New Zealand's housing is a critical policy issue to better enable all people to access warm, dry, safe, affordable housing.
Recently-published research has found public housing tenants living in areas with a higher proportion of public housing actually had better health outcomes than those living in areas with lower densities of public housing tenants.
Wellington City Council has put out a Media Release on their research collaboration with the NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities on the Public Housing & Urban Regeneration Programme funded by MBIE.
New Zealand urgently needs to increase the diversity and quality of its housing stock if it is to meet its goal of reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 2030 and meet the needs of our diverse population, researchers at the University of Otago say.
Dr Crystal Olin was interviewed recently by Liam Hansen of Radio 95bFM about efforts to green our cities. This was in the wake of the release of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warning that without immediate action the earth could reach a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in temperature by 2030.
Please listen to the Radio 95bFM interview with Dr Crystal Olin
A BBC film presented by He Kāinga Oranga - Housing and Health Research Programme: Unlocking the science—How can science connect the dots between disciplines and communities? Please watch the film The Science of a Healthier Home
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman analyses the challenges of housing in 2022, how Kāinga Ora is leading the way with major developments and the need for government investment.
Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman was interviewed by Stuff reporter Ethan Te Ora about her long research career working to improve the quality of Kiwi homes
A report published today puts a spotlight on housing through a fairness lens and finds that differences in housing are a large contributor to inequity in New Zealand.
A University of Otago research proposal has been awarded an Endeavour Fund 2020 grant of $12,393,935 (excluding GST) by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The CEO of Community Housing Aotearoa, Paul Gilberd, is interviewed on RNZ by Wallace Chapman about the recent research from the Public Housing and Urban Regeneration: Maximising Wellbeing Research
New Zealand has three "big choices" to make to safeguard against impending sea level rise, according to a researcher specialising in sustainable cities. Dr Crystal Olin, a researcher with the
Adjunct Professor Ralph Chapman of Victoria University of Wellington examines the tensions between New Zealand climate change objectives and the Government’s vehicle emissions policy.
Dr Kimberley O'Sullivan, Otago University researcher at He Kāinga Oranga, Housing and Health Research Programme, was interviewed by Māni Dunlop for Radio New Zealand’s Midday Report on 18 October 2
We held two Public Health Summer School 2021 symposiums at the University of Otago Wellington in February. Building for zero carbon by 2050 and Eviction and its consequences.