The Resilient Urban Futures Programme was a four year long research project, which the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities undertook from 2012-2016, thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The programme brought together a multi-disciplinary group of researchers, all focused on a key issue for New Zealand – how to develop vibrant, liveable, internationally competitive and resilient cities into the future.
The programme linked researchers from:
- NZ universities – Otago, Auckland, Massey, Victoria, Canterbury
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research (NIWA)
- Research institutes – Motu, Waiti, Aria
- Local councils and iwi
The research framework viewed cities as systems, emphasising for example the links between housing and transport and urban form and environment. Research focus areas were developed in consultation with councils over several years. The researchers emphasised comparative case studies and local policy experiments.