Exploring the Built Environment - Your Town/City in the Future

Learning objectives

Students will develop:

awareness of the built environment issues that affect their town/city now and into the future, and an understanding of potential solutions.

As a class, identify the built environment issues that your town/city is facing, or will face in the future. Potential issues could include traffic congestion, urban sprawl, lack of housing supply, and energy supply.
Select one issue that students feel strongly about. As a class, identify the different interest groups involved in or affected by the issue. Divide the class into small groups. Ask each group to represent a different interest group and to consider the issue from this group’s viewpoint.
As a class, discuss potential solutions to the issue. Identify the pros and cons of each solution from the viewpoints of the interest groups involved in, or affected by, the issue.
Invite a representative from your local council to give a presentation on the issue. The council representative should explain the issue and its causes and outline how the council is addressing the issue.
Present the suggested solutions of the class to the council representative.

You will need the following resources:

For contact details of your local council visit www.localgovt.co.nz/

Visit our website: www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/urban/ or contact the Ministry for the Environment’s Urban Group by emailing urban.design@mfe.govt.nz or phoning (04) 439 7400.