Wednesday 7 December 2005
Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister
Address at Year of the Built Environment Awards
Wednesday 7 December 2005
We are here tonight to celebrate the positive impact which a quality built environment has on the well-being of our
citizens, towns, cities, and the country as a whole.
As New Zealanders we are immensely proud of our internationally famous natural environment. But, we should also
recognise the unique strengths and positive qualities of our built environment. The Year of the Built Environment and
awards like these give us the opportunity to focus on these qualities.
The Institute of Architects visited me early on in my first term as Prime Minister and Minister of Arts, Culture, and
Heritage, with a vision for celebrating and improving our built environment. I encouraged the Hon Marian Hobbs and the
Ministry for the Environment to pursue ways of doing that, and a number of initiatives have been taken.
I speak as one who is fascinated by the built environment and our architectural heritage – whether it be the small
cottages of Ponsonby and Thorndon, the new city created for Brazil’s capital, Kyoto’s temples, or Stockholm’s mediaeval
centre. All are critical to understanding our past.
The built environment describes not only built structures, but also the places and networks in which we interact, live,
and play. The Year of the Built Environment 2005 celebrates the diversity of our culture, the vibrancy of our towns and
cities, and the distinctive New Zealand styles of our built environment.
The celebration of the Year has been a wonderful success, and I congratulate all those who have worked hard to make it
so. It has involved collaboration between central government, and the New Zealand Institute of Architects, and a
consortium of local government, industry, research organisations, and professional institutes. Prince Charles helped
give our events profile by launching the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol during his visit in March. The quality of the
built environment is a subject dear to his heart.
The end of the year will not mean the end of the focus. It is just the beginning. Our government will continue to
strongly support the built environment agenda through policies and programmes, such as the Urban Design Protocol, the
Sustainable Cities Programme, the New Zealand Housing Strategy, and the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation
Strategy.
Already 100 organisations have signed up to the Urban Design Protocol. The Protocol recognises that urban design has a
significant influence on people and how they live their lives. It recognises that towns and cities are complex systems
which require integrated management across sectors. It aims to increase the awareness of quality urban design,
demonstrate its value, and encourage partnership between central and local government, the private sector, and
professionals. The Protocol also provides a national resource of tools and actions to be used in achieving quality urban
design.
I thank everyone here this evening for the efforts and commitment you are making to improve New Zealand’s built
environment.
Tonight, we celebrate some of the outstanding examples of projects from across the spectrum of the built environment –
from street malls to foreshore developments, airports, wineries, a house in a paddock, and an eco-neighbourhood; from
public buildings to private homes, commercial buildings, to public spaces and more.
The Awards recognise those buildings, landscapes, and projects which stand at the pinnacle of construction and design
across New Zealand.
I congratulate all tonight’s finalists and thank them for their contribution to enhancing the quality of New Zealand’s
built environment.
ENDS