Kāinga Ora Design Guidelines — Masterplanning for Universal Design, version 1.2
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities
Official guidance
Official primary
2026-10-10
Next review: 2027-04-10
New Zealand
Medium confidence
verified
Primary-source housing audit, 10 October 2026
Evidence boundary: April 2024 version 1.2 design guidance, not current law, a detailed compliance specification, project completion evidence or individual housing entitlement. Persona/checklist outputs require co-design, expert assessment and current technical standards. Primary weekly report corroborates publication; current guide retrieval returned a security challenge and web open404, so live byte identity/newer-version status was not established. This does not demonstrate withdrawal.
Short Answer
Version 1.2 masterplanning guide using destination proximity, street-level personas and Safe, Obvious and Step-free checks to identify and improve accessibility.
Why it matters
Use the framework to audit an older person’s complete journey from home to services, identify inaccessible links and specify accountable masterplan/delivery actions. Pair it with co-design and current local technical specifications.
Key Points
- •The preserved cover identifies version 1.2, April 2024, designed for A3 viewing; physical/printed count is 31, rather than the catalogue’s 67 pages.
- •Kāinga Ora’s weekly report for 17 May 2024 says the guide was published the previous week and refined in-house with feedback from over 120 people. This confirms publication by that report date, not an exact first release day (weekly report physical p.3).
- •Proximal accessibility measures distances and travel connections to destinations; street-level accessibility examines whether people can actually use links and crossings. Nearby services alone do not establish an accessible route (pp.11–12).
- •Three personas assess links and crossings: an eight-year-old child, wheelchair user and blind adult. They are design exemplars, not a comprehensive assessment of every older person’s needs (pp.12,21–24).
- •Safe, Obvious and Step-free (SOS) checks cover speed/separation, width, surfaces, hazards, lighting, wayfinding, transport, directness and gradients. Treat the 2024 checklist as guidance and check current technical requirements separately (pp.19–20).
- •Accessible-home location planning favours flatter sites, proximity to amenities and public transport, while documenting which sites and routes can achieve universal-design outcomes (p.17).
Full Summary & Notes
Kāinga Ora’s April 2024 version 1.2 guide shows how to add universal-design layers to neighbourhood masterplans. It distinguishes proximity to amenities from the accessibility of the routes reaching them, using an eight-year-old child, a wheelchair user and a blind adult as design personas. Safe, Obvious and Step-free checks inform maps, home locations, street interventions and delivery agreements. The 31-page A3 guide also addresses audits, maintenance and construction-stage access. It explicitly supplements detailed technical specifications and co-design rather than replacing them. Kāinga Ora’s 17 May 2024 weekly report confirms publication, but current PDF retrieval returned a security challenge, so live byte identity or a newer edition was not established. Guidance does not prove completed accessible developments.
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