Dr Becky Kiddle   PhD in Urban Design

Pae Matua

Tairawhiti / Takitimu Environmental Planning and Management, Design

Ngāti Porou + Ngāpuhi

Director, Te Manawahoukura Rangahau Institute, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

Kia ora, My interest in urban design came out of a revelation that the built environment is not just about we can see. Political, economic, social and environmental pressures all influence the built environment in ways that weren't well acknowledged during my two years at architecture school. I was also working in housing policy at HNZC at the time, so understood some of the pressures low-income households, were under and how government policy and much architectural practice lacked any clear link between it and the manifestation of a built environment which was successful for those with little choice. So, I felt that urban design training might be better suited to my interests. I came to the UK to do an MA in urban design and carried on to do a PhD. My research to date has focused on themes related to the interface between social and environmental sustainability. Specifically, my MA thesis developed urban design principles for designing mixed income neighbourhoods (a UK government policy to limit both gated communities and concentrated areas of poverty) and my PhD focused on developing urban design principles for designing social learning space, that is space that encourages learning through social interaction. Throughout my PhD I undertook a number of other projects including one which involved working with young people from local council housing estates (ie social housing) to train them in urban design skills in order that they might have meaningful involvement in built environment descision-making in their communities. I am currently working on a project called ' Indigeneity in the Contemporary World' http://www.indigeneity.net/ developing principles of Maori urban design (or place identity) through an analysis of Maori performance. I am also working on a project which aims to understand the overlap and differences between what house builders and developers in the UK provides in terms of sustainable housing solutions and what house buyers want.