Infrastructure for a Better Future

In this episode of Infrastructure for a better future, we look at the Carbon Neutral Government Programme, which aims to accelerate emissions reduction in the public sector. In particularly, we look at the work being undertaken by the Ministry of Education. As part of this programme, the Ministry has baselined its emissions across two and a half thousand schools and kura - no easy task. The work is just beginning, but it's already ...

Population growth is one of the biggest drivers of infrastructure services. More people, means more transport connections, more housing and more jobs. Last year, Infrastructure Victoria published research titled Choosing Victoria’s future that sketches out five urban form scenarios and makes the case that when it comes to an urban footprint, we have a certain set of choices that we can make. These choices lead to different social, ...

We know that teams that reflect our communities can listen better, understand better and better engage with our communities, and together can build better more resilient infrastructure. So why is it that only 11% of infrastructure workers identify as women? In this episode, Te Waihanga Director - Leadership Nicola Richardson speaks to Stacey Mendonça, MNZM, Senior Quantity Surveyor and Estimator at Newcrest Construction, and Co-fou...

How are researchers currently seeking to understand the role that indigenous communities play in infrastructure development including post-disaster recovery? How has engineering teaching changed to consider these issues?

As part of our research into Māori engagement in infrastructure, Clare Sinnott, Writer and Researcher at Te Waihanga spoke to Dr Matthew Hughes, Senior Lecturer - Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineeri...

Is our critical infrastructure vulnerable? What does New Zealand need to do to ensure that it has the planning capabilities to effectively deal with natural disasters and other events when they occur?

In this episode, Te Waihanga Senior Communications Advisor Simon Thomas speaks to Chair of the New Zealand Lifelines Council Roger Fairclough about the Council's recent Critical Infrastructure National Vulnerability Assessment. Roger ...

The future is uncertain. While we can do our best to predict what will happen next month, next year, or fifty years from now, we can’t be sure what will actually happen.  

In this episode, Te Waihanga Senior Economist Nadine Dodge catch up with Brad Singh, to learn about how the transport team at Wellington City Council is dealing with uncertainty in their business. Brad talked about many sources of uncertainty – from climate chang...

While the future is uncertain, when done well, corridor protection – designating or acquiring land for infrastructure in advance of when it’s needed – can have benefits for day and tomorrow. In this episode of ‘Infrastructure for a better future’, Nadine Dodge, Senior Economist – Strategy at Te Waihanga talks with KiwiRail representatives David Gordon, Capital Planning and Asset Development Officer, and Marija Batistich, Senior Cor...

Large-scale and complex infrastructure projects, often take longer and cost more than expected, but some places seem to get better results than others. In our latest podcast, we take a global view of infrastructure project costs and why certain places are better at delivering infrastructure on time and in budget.

Peter Nunns Director - Economics at Te Waihanga speaks to Dr. Eric Goldwyn from New York University and the Transit Cost...

Te Waihanga Principal Advisor - Strategy, Nik Green recently spoke to Senior Advisor - Delivery Christian Gamst about stormwater and resilience. This is part of our work to understand the severity of the January 2023 Auckland Anniversary weekend storm resulting in stormwater flooding in Auckland, the impact of the storm on Auckland’s infrastructure and the issues or weaknesses this event has raised about stormwater management and o...

We need our cities to be attractive and inclusive places to live. An important aspect of achieving this is by ensuring our infrastructure services are accessible to everyone. Two Auckland Transport advisory groups – the Public Transport Advisory Group (PTAG) and the Capital Project Advisory Group (CTAG) have been true catalysts for change and have been at the forefront of making Auckland's transport network work for all. Jane Godfr...

A changing macro-economic and geopolitical environment can act as either a headwind or tailwind to better infrastructure. In this complex world how does Aotearoa New Zealand make sure it can deliver successful infrastructure projects? How, and to what, do we shift our priorities as a small country at the bottom of the pacific? How do we compete for the talent we need to produce world-class infrastructure? Geoff Cooper, General Man...

To solve New Zealand's infrastructure challenges we need to deliver quality infrastructure at an affordable price. So, how much does it cost to build infrastructure in New Zealand? And how do we compare with other high-income countries? That's the subject of a report that we published last month, entitled ‘The lay of the land: Benchmarking New Zealand's infrastructure delivery costs’. In our report, we draw on research from Oxford ...

Earlier in 2022, a culvert replacement project won the award for Excellence in Environment and Sustainability, Best Public Works Project ($2–5 million) and Supreme Asset Management Excellence at the 2022 IPWEA (Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia) New Zealand Asset Management Excellence Awards. At first glance, it might be hard to understand how a culvert replacement project could attract so much interest, but this pr...

In episode two of our Infrastructure for a better future series we look to Stockholm. Stockholm was one of the first cities in the world to implement a congestion charge to reduce its traffic – and it worked. Following implementation of the charge, traffic was reduced by 20% and congestion by 30% to 50%. Not only that, but public perception of the charge swung markedly in its favour after a well thought out trial. Geoff Cooper, Ge...

Years of underinvestment in hospitals and other public health facilities mean that many are no longer fit for purpose. Health reforms offer an unprecedented opportunity to deliver a step change in how we plan and deliver health infrastructure. Recommendations from a recent health infrastructure report by Robert Rust show just how to do this. Robert recently visited New Zealand and Te Waihanga asked him to unpack some of his finding...