Elinor Chisholm

Introduction In countries where social (or public) housing is targeted at the most deprived populations, areas of concentrated social housing have long been viewed with suspicion. Depending on the country, they have been described as ‘sink estates’ or ‘ghettos’ (Gans, 2010; McDonald, 2015; Pagani et al., 2025; Pinkster et al., 2020; Slater, 2018; Wilson, 1987), a view that often contrasts with the perspectives of those that live there (Darcy, 2013; Watt, 2020).

Abstract How do we decide how many people should live in a dwelling? This paper rethinks occupancy standards regulating how many people can live in a home, exploring their use by landlords and the impact on tenants across Aotearoa New Zealand. We conceptualise these rules and their use as social constructs influenced by dominant cultural norms and power structures.

Recent years have seen a lot of discussion of the monuments in our streets and public spaces, asking us to consider, for example, whether it’s appropriate to have monuments to people like William Wakefield or Captain Hamilton, complicit in the violence of colonisation.