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Driving forces influencing the uptake of sustainable housing in New Zealand

Xintong Li (Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China)
Yisheng Liu (Department of Construction Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China)
S. Wilkinson (University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand)
Tingting Liu (School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China)

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

ISSN: 0969-9988

Article publication date: 7 September 2018

Issue publication date: 11 February 2019

1194

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainable houses remain at a low rate among the housing stock in New Zealand. Government, industry and the public are wanting to deliver homes that are energy and water efficient, healthy and adaptive to the climate. The purpose of this paper is to find out the driving forces influencing the uptake of sustainable housing in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

Comparative case studies of Hobsonville Point, Wynyard Quarter and Long Bay were adopted as the primary research method. Semi-structured interviews and an online survey were both conducted for data collection to increase the validity of the research.

Findings

Central and local governments were the most effective driving forces for encouraging sustainable housing. Corporate brand and leadership were critical drivers for public-owned companies, whereas private-owned companies were mainly driven by local governments’ policies and strategies. Social awareness and client demand were increasing to influence the sustainable housing, but there was still room for improvement.

Research limitations/implications

The developers can learn from the sustainable development frameworks to set the sustainability goals. Policymakers can draw lessons from the public sectors’ experiences to carry out new policies and inspire the private sectors to follow. Besides, the basic framework could help the further study to use a larger sample size and more rigorous statistical analysis to explore the synergies among the identified drivers.

Originality/value

This paper provides the useful information on how to promote the uptake of sustainable housing in New Zealand.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Contracts No. 71173011); and the China Scholarship Council (File No. 201507090027). The authors would like to thank all those who participated in this research for their support. The authors are also thankful to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.

Citation

Li, X., Liu, Y., Wilkinson, S. and Liu, T. (2019), "Driving forces influencing the uptake of sustainable housing in New Zealand", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 46-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-07-2017-0111

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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