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Background – Adequate housing is a basic human right. Despite this, much of New Zealand’s housing stock is in poor condition. Notably, there has been a substantial underinvestment in renewing New Zealand’s social housing infrastructure. In part this is because the contribution of good quality social housing to tenants’ wellbeing has been undervalued. There is a need to remediate the social housing stock in New Zealand and address inequalities in quality housing. Against a general trend, internationally and nationally, Wellington City Council and Tāmaki Regeneration Company invested in their social housing stock. Evaluating the impact of these initiatives on tenants’ wellbeing is important, to build a robust evidence base and improve knowledge about the benefits of social housing. Wellbeing refers to a person’s welfare, quality of life, or utility, at the individual, community and societal level. It encapsulates elements of life that people value and the degree to which people can live consistently with their desires and aspirations. Various domains influence wellbeing, as outlined in wellbeing frameworks developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and New Zealand Treasury. This thesis focuses on a subset of domains: housing, health, social connections and safety. Aim – The aim of this thesis was to provide a framework for measuring the impact of social housing remediation on tenants’ wellbeing at three levels: 1. Housing level: interventions made to the indoor environment of discrete units, e.g. draft stopping intervention at Marshall Court, an already upgraded Wellington City Council housing complex with 27 units 2. Complex level: interventions include changes to the physical fabric/infrastructure of units and/or environment, e.g. rebuild of a section of Arlington, Wellington City Council’s largest social housing complex, with 269 units 3. Community level: interventions include changes to the environment/urban landscape of the neighbourhood, social services for general use and social systems, e.g. remediation of 2,500 social units in three suburbs of Tāmaki, Auckland, by Tāmaki Regeneration Company. This thesis also aimed to test the application of the frameworks and inform the debate around the New Zealand Healthy Homes Guarantee Act 2017, which proposed a minimum temperature for rental properties. Therefore, indoor temperature was a particular focus. Methods – This thesis developed robust evaluation frameworks, informed by literature, which can be generalised and utilised across the three levels of intervention. To evaluate the natural experiment at each level and promote causal attribution, I proposed a quasi-experimental before-and-after approach using control groups. The housing level evaluation provided a field test of the initial framework, which proved the viability of the approach. The framework was expanded for the complex level evaluation and baseline data were collected. An even larger framework was developed for the community level intervention, which has a 15–25 year construction estimate; baseline data collection is ongoing at present. Frameworks were refined and contextualised in consultation with stakeholders. Follow-up, post-intervention data collection and analysis of the complex and community levels are anticipated to be undertaken as part of a future research programme. As the level of intervention increases in scale, an expanding range of methods and tools are recommended to evaluate the impact. At a minimum this includes surveying tenants and monitoring the physical performance of housing including temperature, humidity and energy use. Administrative data are useful to obtain health and safety information on health care utilisation, victimisation and injuries. Site specific reports such as crime prevention through environmental design, urban design and maintenance reports are also useful sources to provide context, especially with respect to understanding social connections and safety. Results – A literature review was conducted on evaluations of physical social housing interventions. This indicated that interventions generally led to tenants having increased satisfaction with their home, improved indoor conditions, health, social connections and safety. However, it was difficult to compare project evaluations. While they had a common goal, there was no consistent framework utilised. For this thesis, cohesive evaluation frameworks and methodologies are presented across all three levels of intervention of interest at the housing, complex and community level. In practice a number of challenges were confronted when undertaking the evaluations, particularly at the complex and community level. This thesis also addresses how these were handled. Key results from the housing level intervention showed meaningful indoor temperature increase was possible through minor interventions. Units were 1.36°C warmer on average after the draught stopping intervention, adjusting for outdoor temperature. Tenants’ diary entries also claimed units were warmer and more comfortable post-intervention. Baseline results from the complex and community level showed a real need for warmer units, as pre-intervention units were on average 14.9°C and 16.7°C respectively; colder than the World Health Organization recommended minimum indoor temperature of 18°C. Conclusion – The frameworks developed in this thesis can be applied when evaluating social housing interventions with respect to tenants’ wellbeing. The importance of housing interventions, with particular regard to indoor temperature, was demonstrated, and evidence developed was used in the development of the guidelines under the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act 2017. This will ideally be used to identify effective interventions, improve wellbeing and address inequalities going forward.
In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these efforts as a "return to normal." But for many American communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs - both economic and social - of poor health. Instead, it is important to understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo. Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term health, resilience, and sustainability of communities - thereby better preparing them for future challenges. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters identifies and recommends recovery practices and novel programs most likely to impact overall community public health and contribute to resiliency for future incidents. This book makes the case that disaster recovery should be guided by a healthy community vision, where health considerations are integrated into all aspects of recovery planning before and after a disaster, and funding streams are leveraged in a coordinated manner and applied to health improvement priorities in order to meet human recovery needs and create healthy built and natural environments. The conceptual framework presented in Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters lays the groundwork to achieve this goal and provides operational guidance for multiple sectors involved in community planning and disaster recovery. Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters calls for actions at multiple levels to facilitate recovery strategies that optimize community health. With a shared healthy community vision, strategic planning that prioritizes health, and coordinated implementation, disaster recovery can result in a communities that are healthier, more livable places for current and future generations to grow and thrive - communities that are better prepared for future adversities.
The poor standard of current housing, and the inability of too many people on low incomes to access decent housing, is causing a cascade of problems that are avoidable. Housing affordability. Unhealthy homes. Wealth inequality. Environmental sustainability. Social mobility. The state of New Zealand housing is central to many major issues confronting this country. In this wide-ranging BWB Text, leading international housing researcher Philippa Howden-Chapman reveals how New Zealand has lost its way on housing. This succinct introduction, drawing on two decades of award-winning research, helps chart a new way ahead for housing that is healthy, inclusive and sustainable.
Almost all homes, apartments, and commercial buildings will experience leaks, flooding, or other forms of excessive indoor dampness at some point. Not only is excessive dampness a health problem by itself, it also contributes to several other potentially problematic types of situations. Molds and other microbial agents favor damp indoor environments, and excess moisture may initiate the release of chemical emissions from damaged building materials and furnishings. This new book from the Institute of Medicine examines the health impact of exposures resulting from damp indoor environments and offers recommendations for public health interventions. Damp Indoor Spaces and Health covers a broad range of topics. The book not only examines the relationship between damp or moldy indoor environments and adverse health outcomes but also discusses how and where buildings get wet, how dampness influences microbial growth and chemical emissions, ways to prevent and remediate dampness, and elements of a public health response to the issues. A comprehensive literature review finds sufficient evidence of an association between damp indoor environments and some upper respiratory tract symptoms, coughing, wheezing, and asthma symptoms in sensitized persons. This important book will be of interest to a wide-ranging audience of science, health, engineering, and building professionals, government officials, and members of the public.
Beginning with the foundations of community development, An Introduction to Community Development offers a comprehensive and practical approach to planning for communities. Road-tested in the authors’ own teaching, and through the training they provide for practicing planners, it enables students to begin making connections between academic study and practical know-how from both private and public sector contexts. An Introduction to Community Development shows how planners can utilize local economic interests and integrate finance and marketing considerations into their strategy. Most importantly, the book is strongly focused on outcomes, encouraging students to ask: what is best practice when it comes to planning for communities, and how do we accurately measure the results of planning practice? This newly revised and updated edition includes: increased coverage of sustainability issues, discussion of localism and its relation to community development, quality of life, community well-being and public health considerations, and content on local food systems. Each chapter provides a range of reading materials for the student, supplemented with text boxes, a chapter outline, keywords, and reference lists, and new skills based exercises at the end of each chapter to help students turn their learning into action, making this the most user-friendly text for community development now available.