The Wire with Castor

This week on the Friday wire Casper had his fortnightly chat with Auckland city councillor Pippa Coom, this time about AT’s proposed speed limit changes.

Liam spoke to Green Party co leader Marama Davidson about their calls for a rent freeze and rent controls, as well as Crystal Olin from sustainable cities Aotearoa about how to make city centres more green.

Jess talked with a Dr Anthony Hoete, a professor of architecture at the University of Auckland about the future of housing, and with Dr Rob Beaglehole from the NZDA about the government's proposal to ban fizzy drinks from primary schools.

This week saw  the release of another major IPCC Climate Report, stating that without immediate action we will reach a one point five degree rise in climate and beyond by 20300.

Several new contributors to climate change were highlighted, including the cumulative impact of big cities and towns on the climate.

Efforts to turn our cities more green have been taking place across Aotearoa for several months, so Liam Hansen spoke to Crystal Olin from Sustainable cities Aotearoa about what’s being done and what needs to come next.

Aotearoa has a housing crisis. However, Auckland alone has 40,000 unoccupied houses.

Dr Anthony Hoete, a professor of architecture at the University of Auckand and director at QuakeCoRE, New Zealand Centre for Earthquake Resilience talked about issues with housing availability, how Māori housing needs can be rethought, and how different materials might solve construction issues.

New Zealand researchers have reviewed evidence on health and disability initiatives co-designed with Indigenous and other children and youth from other social groups. The research team say there is an urgent need for formal research to assess how co-designed initiatives affect youth, and how they contribute to achieving equity. Joe spoke to Dr Paula Toko King from the University of Otago on the matter.