Revitalising the Heart: Addressing the vacant CBD of Rotorua

The issue of abandoned retail stores is one that is evident throughout the country and at different scales throughout the world. The appearance leaves main streets and central business districts’ looking tired and run down and does little to benefit the local economy. The rise and demand of international retail corporations in provincial cities, has transformed inner city infrastructure. This combined with suburban sprawl has resulted in high building vacancies and poor community moral.  Looking to new theories around Urban Interior Architecture, this research explores the boundary between internal and external design methods and pushes for a merger of the design disciplines to create a coherent spatial context. In order to repopulate the city, human focused design methods are explored to encourage social interactions, commercial activity and habitation of the many vacant sites.  Through the use of site-specific design, Rotorua will be investigated to understand the reasoning for the abandoned stores and will look to the urban context to identify potential remedies to solve the neglect. The identity of Rotorua its Placemaking and Cultural Heritage of its people will inform the design response to bring the community back into the heart of the central city.