Co-located Communities: Integrating Primary Schools with Local Centres in New Zealand's Greenfield Subdivisions

New Zealand is undergoing a large period of growth with a range ofissues such as lack of housing, unaffordability and new ways of living.

The recently proposed National Policy Statement on UrbanDevelopment, released in 2020, identifies that “there are constraintsin the current planning system that have led to high land prices,unaffordable housing and resulted in people having poor access toemployment, education and social services”.

Parallel to the demand for urban development is the need for theprovision of employment, education and social services that supportthese new growth areas. Schools play a significant role in supportingNew Zealand’s future and similarly, new local centres need to besuccessful, vibrant and promote community activity.

However we must also acknowledge that local centres are changing. The steady decline of conventional bricks-and-mortar retail has beenwell documented over the recent years, and community services thatwould often be located in local centres such as banks and post shopshave been facing decline globally. This collapse of the traditionalpillars of local centres leaves a gap in this crucial building block of newcommunities. This is particularly a challenge in upcoming greenfielddevelopments, where local centres are usually built up from thesepillars and so, the question arises what can fill the gap?

A primary school is an excellent candidate as schools are both anecessary and functional building block of new developments. Havingthe dual-function as both an education space and a community asset,this integration would both spatially and socially enhance and promoteactivity in the local centre.

This thesis explores the relevant literature covering concepts ofco-location and integration, urban design and school design witha comprehensive analysis and precedent review of recently builtlocal and international schools. Further to this is a study on severalgreenfield developments in New Zealand, followed by the applicationof the key findings and learnings to a design case study, for which theTaraika Masterplan in Levin has been selected.

Through the process of iterative design and establishing designprinciples, the case study will explore how the integration of primaryschools and local centres could build a new community heart forgreenfield developments.