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ABSTRACT. Cities in Aotearoa New Zealand face simultaneous crises: housing affordability and the climate emergency. Both issues are two sides of a single metaphorical coin. Humans depend on safe environments, but the unaffordable housing crisis has resulted in families living in cars, garages or within a single room contributing to preventable illnesses. The authors – a social work academic and an urban planner – argue that to be kind to people, we must equally be kind to the environment. Affordable housing is critical to human wellbeing but so is environmental security. Urban planning for affordable and resilient communities able to adapt to the climate emergency is needed. To be kind to the environment is to express kindness to people as an ethical commitment. By exercising manaakitanga (kindness), we recognize the mana (dignity) of others by acting with respect, kindness and compassion; and by aroha (compassion, love, empathy), our responsibility for people’s wellbeing.

Keywords: kindness; cities; housing crisis; human wellbeing; manaakitanga; environmental resilience

How to cite: Webster, M. J., and Bogunovich, D. (2021). “The Crisis of Housing Affordability: Kindness to People and Environmental Resilience?,” Knowledge Cultures 9(3): 90–110. doi: 10.22381/kc9320216.

Received 23 July 2021 • Received in revised form 2 November 2021
Accepted 5 November 2021 • Available online 1 December 2021

Michael John Webster
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University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
Dushko Bogunovich
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University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

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