A major University of Auckland study will examine how New Zealand’s housing intensification boom is affecting inequality and whether the country’s zoning reforms are benefiting all communities equally.
The research team, led by Associate Professor Ryan Greenaway McGrevy and Distinguished Professor Peter Phillips, has received an $853,000 Marsden Fund grant to investigate the social and economic impacts of large scale upzoning, including the effects of Auckland’s landmark Unitary Plan.
The project aims to answer one of New Zealand’s most pressing housing questions: who actually benefits from upzoning, and who might be left behind.
“Where we live and grow up matters for a variety of life outcomes,” Greenaway McGrevy said. “It’s important to think about how zoning reform can change the geography of opportunity.”
Auckland’s 2016 Unitary Plan allowed medium and high density housing across about three quarters of the city’s residential land, a major policy shift that dramatically increased housing construction and eased rental pressures.
Earlier Marsden funded research led by Greenaway McGrevy found the reforms helped boost supply and stabilise rents.
But this new study will dig deeper into the social consequences, exploring whether intensification has widened or reduced inequality between neighbourhoods.
“On the one hand, the potential for upzoning to exacerbate inequalities within cities raises real concerns,” he said. “On the other, widespread reforms may also enable housing options in neighbourhoods that were previously inaccessible to many households.”
Greenaway McGrevy said there was still limited international research on how broad zoning reforms affect inequality.
“There remains an acute lack of evidence on the effects of widespread zoning reforms on spatial inequality because, until recently, such reforms have been rare,” he said. “Yet investigating and understanding the outcomes is critical to evaluate the potential impacts of current policy proposals and to inform the ongoing design of zoning changes.”
Using evidence from New Zealand’s extensive housing reforms, the study will deliver some of the world’s first comprehensive case studies on how intensification shapes neighbourhood composition, opportunity, and social mobility.
The findings are expected to inform future housing policy in New Zealand and provide valuable insights for cities overseas facing similar challenges around affordability and urban growth.
