The Difference Between Need and Greed: Changing perspectives on humble dwellings for a new generation

Abstract

Gentrification is a global phenomenon, amplified by the rapid rate at which the digital world is developing. In New Zealand, the unobtainable property ladder has surpassed even the middle classes while community displacement, over-crowding and poor quality housing is becoming the new norm. Perceptions of the ‘ideal home’ imposed by social media needs to be challenged in that the ‘quarter acre section’ is no longer a viable ‘Kiwi dream’ in the pursuit for a sustainable future. Instead, a proposal for purpose-built residence parks which reinforce and enable an already non-committal perspective held by the new generation of home buyers and renters will look to give relief to seasonal tourism and alleviate the pressures and stresses that gentrification has put on lower socioeconomic sections of society and minority groups who are facing displacement in areas of economic growth.