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Housing crisis makes growth all about ‘up-and-out’ not ‘up-or-out’ If you want affordable housing, it isn’t a choice between whether people should be able to build townhouses and apartments downtown or subdivisions at the city’s fringes. Cities need to be able to grow in all directions, guided by where people want to live and the cost of providing infrastructure. Read more

Local government often finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Councils have limited sources of funding – mainly ratepayers and borrowings – which have practical limits. Read more

Anyone hoping for an end to the country’s housing affordability crisis should despair. Or at least they should if they live in New Zealand’s largest city. Read more

Auckland Council’s draft Future Development Strategy all but guarantees that Auckland housing will never be affordable. Those keen on affordable housing ought to pay attention to it. Read more

Australian cities just became a lot more attractive for younger Kiwis. New Zealand’s housing will have to become a lot more affordable, in a hurry, to avoid losing them. Read more

Wellington boasts three things in abundance: great coffee, civil servants, and wind. But it seems that the city council forgot to factor in the latter when designing its street lamps. Read more

I don’t know the right number of local water service entities. Neither do you. Read more

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is worried, and rightly so. His city is battling an invasion of road cones, and something must be done about it. Read more