EASTERN PORIRUA REGENERATION FRAMEWORK

The Challenge

• To develop a Regeneration Strategy that would be supported by a corresponding Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the eastern Porirua Regeneration Programme - the first urban development project to be mandated under the Wellbeing Budget. 
• This project consists of eight neighbourhoods, on the east side of Porirua and sits within the wider Porirua Development Programme, announced by the Government in 2018. It involves the redevelopment of thousands of homes, and the comprehensive economic, social and environmental regeneration of the area. 

The Journey 

Developing a Regeneration Strategy for Eastern Porirua involved taking a multistage approach to delivery and included desktop research, document review, engagement with HLC/UDG, Porirua City Council, iwi and broader stakeholders, including the community. 

Outputs from the engagement were analysed and synthesised and presented back in a draft framework that included mapping the governance arrangements, project structure and stakeholder groups, and defined what regeneration through a wellbeing lense looks like in the Eastern Porirua context. 

This work included a spatial mapping exercise that included:

• undertaking an assessment of the current state and character of the area, 
• mapping key amenities (social, education, health and wellbeing, retail, food and sport and recreation) and how they respond to the housing provision (or otherwise),
• identifying features of the area that influence the amenity and identity of the area including transport infrastructure/facilities,
• mapping the current form of the areas and the spatial relationships between amenities and the public realm, 
• identifying key issues in relation to the ease of movement, diversity of land uses, adaptability of places and spaces, and
• identifying opportunities for intervention.

The Outcome

• The draft framework consolidated information and provided a pathway to develop key success criteria and outcomes for the programme. At a time when there was lots of uncertainty about what large-scale regeneration projects entailed, the framework’s primary use was as a communication tool. It was to explain the breadth and depth of the programme to a range of public, private and third sector stakeholders. One of the most useful outcomes of this work was others knowing how they were expected to participate in the programme, and what their roles were. It also acted as a great record of multi-disciplinary thinking, and brought the team together around a central point of truth. 

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