In New Zealand and worldwide, there is a growing recognition that residential intensification could be used as a technique to address some of the negative impacts of urban sprawl. However, poorly designed and executed intensification risks resulting in a number of its own negative impacts. Furthermore, these impacts have implications for the way intensification is received by the local population. It is imperative that the impacts and acceptability of intensification and the feasibility of intensification as a tool for moving towards a more sustainable urban form be investigated. This thesis explores the impacts and acceptability of intensification through a comparative study of two residential zones that enable intensification in Dunedin – the Residential 2 Zone in South Dunedin, and the Residential 3 Zone in North Dunedin. The study involved a survey of 100 residents in the case study areas, along with key informant interviews with property developers and representatives from architectural firms, the Otago Property Investors Association and the Dunedin City Council.
The research revealed that there has been a range of impacts, positive and negative, as a consequence of intensification in the case study areas, and that these have been largely unproblematic to residents. Overall, residents were very satisfied with their current neighbourhood, and if given the choice would be likely to live in a similar medium density neighbourhood in the future. The research also found that there is a difference in the relative extent and acceptability of the impacts of intensification between the case study areas. The findings have implications for the efficacy of planning for future intensification in Dunedin. A series of recommendations were developed to address the issues identified by the research, including the development of design guidelines for intensive development, allowing for further intensification via the Dunedin City District Plan, an assessment of the capacity of Dunedin’s infrastructure to accommodate further intensification, and fixing the car parking issues in North Dunedin. Implementation of these recommendations would assist in ensuring that the needs and desires of Dunedin residents are met while achieving positive and environmentally sustainable outcomes of future intensification in Dunedin.