Exploring a New Urban Design Model to Help the Community Build Resilience to Flooding: A Case Study Between Unitec Students and the Māngere Community, Auckland

The recent terrible flooding has caused severe damage to people’s lives and housing in Tamaki Makaurau and across Aotearoa, New Zealand, particularly those in flood-prone areas. These events make it clear that the provision of denser housing will make the problem of climate change worse. The two issues, urban flooding and increasing housing supply necessitate a new urban design model. This model recognises the intersection of the existing urban topography and the environmental conditions of climate change. Utilising the techniques of catchment planning and GIS mapping, the model advances a way to increase the housing supply while at the same time ensuring the safety of the inhabitants. The model was explored in a student design studio. This design exercise was a joint project with students from the Unitec School of Architecture community groups from Māngere for a site adjacent to the Te Ara-Rata Stream. One of the key aims of the studio was to reduce the risk of flooding through different design techniques. These included where future housing was located and the benefits of nature-based strategies such as recreating wetlands and increasing riparian margins The community and professionals have recognised the outcome of this studio as an effective way to design resilient urban models for climate change, particularly flooding.