A Shore Thing - Flipping the Coast

A Shore Thing explores an alternative approach to the way future development can occur within New Zealand’s coastal hinterland regions.  As global cities continue to expand in size and population, the desire and necessity to move ‘away’ is becoming increasingly prevalent. Wellington is a city that is densifying, yet due to its natural topography, it cannot expand. Townships within the Greater Wellington region are already growing and developing with a lack of developmental strategies to deal with more ermanent residents. As part of this growth, Transmission Gully motorway is a major infrastructural development occurring within the region to improve the connection between the Kapiti Coast and Wellington. Questions are raised…How will this infrastructure affect the townships? Can they withstand an influx of residents? What will happen to the natural process within this landscape?  The main intention of this thesis is to develop a scheme for how people could settle within hinterland regions, specifically Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast. The implementation of Transmission Gully stimulates Kapiti’s potential as a satellite region to Wellington city. This thesis will explore how infrastructure and landscape urbanism can be employed within a rural landscape to achieve a considered strategy that mitigates future pressures on a growing region. The role of landscape architecture plays an important role when exploring and understanding the varying scales within the scheme to ensure a legible framework is generated that integrates ecology, infrastructure, housing and public life.