Fleur Palmer - Developing New Strategies for Maori Housing

Date: 30 October 2012 Time: 6.00 pm

This paper considers the historical legacy of colonial and post colonial discrimination and social inequity associated with Muriwhenua tribes. It considers how the loss of resources such as land and forests has impacted on access affordable housing in the Far North. Through maps, I analyse the Treaty settlement for Te Rarawa in the township of Kaitaia. Maps demonstrate how the Treaty offer continues to maintain the status quo, by excluding Māori from the city centre, hindering access not only to affordable housing in the area, but to any equivalent and meaningful engagement in the local economy. In response to the prospect of continued spatial injustice, the paper considers a strategy to recolonise Kaitaia using decommissioned State owned housing stock. It also looks at a strategy to gain access to affordable housing in Kaitaia using relocatable homes.

Fleur Palmer is a senior lecturer of Spatial Design at Auckland University of Technology and president of the Auckland Architectural Association. She has practised in London and New Zealand and also taught at Auckland University School of Architecture. Fleur’s recent research is involved with investigating the implications of the Kainga Whenua programme in the development of sustainable housing for Māori communities. Fleur is of Te Rarawa and European descent.

Developing New Strategies for Māori Housing poster (PDF, 573 KB)