All Around the World - New Zealand
About this episode
Paul Smith discusses planning in New Zealand with economist Stuart Donovan, focusing on housing affordability and upzoning.
This is the fourth of a series of episodes being led by the oldest friend of the podcast, Paul Smith . Paul put it to Sam Stafford that debates about the planning system in England tend, for the most part, to focus solely on the planning system in England. We very seldom look to other countries for inspiration and ideas. Paul wanted to remedy that and so in this series he is chatting with planning professionals and academics from a number of countries to find out what works well there, what works less well, and what can we learn. In this episode Paul chats to Stuart Donovan about planning in New Zealand. Stuart is an economist and Senior Fellow with Motu Research, an independent Wellington-based economics and public policy institute. During a conversation recorded online in January 2026 Paul and Stewart talk about why Auckland became one of the least affordable housing markets in the world and how the opportunities for upzoning presented by an earthquake in Christchurch and local government reorganisation in Auckland became so successful that they were ultimately replicated nationally. Some accompanying reading. Up-zoning New Zealand: the localisation of a globally mobile policy…
People in this episode
Host: Paul Smith
Guest: Stuart Donovan
Topics covered
- planning system
- housing market
- upzoning
- New Zealand
- affordability
- public policy
Keywords
- planning
- New Zealand
- housing affordability
- upzoning
- public policy
- Auckland
- Christchurch
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Motu Research
Places: New Zealand, Auckland, Christchurch
More episodes of 50 Shades of Planning
- Emerging Planners
- Meet the MPs - Lib Dems
- Red Hot Planning Chat
- Hitting the High Notes - Peter Soulsby
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