SURV130 Course Glossary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, definitions, legal structures, urban planning concepts, and environmental systems from the SURV130 course.

Activity streets (place function)

One Network Framework street type with shops and services, high on-street activity and use by all modes; balances movement and place (e.g. Great King St).

Adaptation (climate change)

Adjusting human and natural systems to actual or expected climate change and its effects, to reduce harm or use opportunities (e.g. raising floor levels, managed retreat).

Anthropogenic

Caused or produced by human activity (e.g. anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and climate change).

Blue-green infrastructure

Networks combining water (blue) and vegetated (green) features such as streams, wetlands, swales, rain gardens and parks, to manage stormwater, cool cities and support biodiversity alongside or instead of grey infrastructure.

Built environment

Places and spaces modified by people, in which people live, work, recreate and access the resources needed for their health and wellbeing; more than just buildings and infrastructure.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

Capturing $CO_2$ from large point sources (power plants, industry) or the air, transporting it and storing it long-term, usually deep underground, so it does not reach the atmosphere.

Catchment

The area of land that drains to a common outlet such as a river, lake or harbour, bounded by ridgelines (watershed divides).

Centralisation (in governance)

Concentrating decision-making and service delivery in fewer, larger or higher-level bodies (e.g. central government, amalgamated councils). Can gain economies of scale but may lose local voice and responsiveness.

City hub (place function)

One Network Framework street type in the busiest parts of city centres: very high on-street activity and high movement of people by many modes.

Circular economy

An economy designed to eliminate waste and keep materials in use: maintain and share, reuse/redistribute, refurbish/remanufacture, and recycle only at true end of life (instead of take-make-dispose).

Civic spaces (place function)

One Network Framework category with very high place value and little vehicle movement, prioritised for people (e.g. plazas, squares, pedestrian malls).

Climate

The long-term average weather of a place and its variability, usually measured over $30$ years.

Climate change

A long-term change in the state of the climate (e.g. mean temperature, rainfall, extremes) lasting decades or longer; current change is mainly anthropogenic, driven by greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate mode

A recurring, large-scale pattern of natural (internal) climate variability in the ocean-atmosphere system, e.g. ENSO (El Niño/La Niña), Southern Annular Mode, Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation; shifts NZ winds, temperature and rainfall year to year.

Climate projection

A model-based estimate of future climate under a given emissions/socioeconomic scenario (e.g. SSP2-4.5). Conditional on the scenario, so it is not a forecast.

Co-benefits (of emissions reduction)

Extra positive outcomes of climate action beyond cutting emissions, e.g. better health, cleaner air, active mobility, less heat stress and flooding, more biodiversity (also called synergies).

Common law

Law made by judges through court decisions and built up by precedent; inherited from England and, with statute, one of NZ's main sources of law. Statute can override it.

Coping range

The magnitude or rate of disturbance a system can tolerate without significant adverse impacts or crossing critical thresholds. Outside it, the system is vulnerable.

Critical infrastructure

Infrastructure so essential that its failure would seriously harm public safety, health, the economy or other infrastructures (e.g. electricity, water, telecommunications, key transport links).

Culture

The shared values, beliefs, knowledge, language, customs and practices of a group, learned and passed on between generations.

Decarbonisation

Reducing the greenhouse gas (carbon) emissions of an activity, sector or economy, e.g. electrifying transport and heating using renewable electricity.

Delegated authority (legal system)

Law-making power given by Parliament, through a statute, to another body (e.g. ministers, councils) to make regulations or bylaws. It must always be traceable to an empowering Act.

Dimensions of place (morphology, perception, function)

Three ways to analyse a place: morphology = physical form and layout; perception = how it is experienced and what it means to people (feel); function = how it is used and what activities happen there.

Direct emissions

Greenhouse gases released directly at the source by an activity (e.g. vehicle exhaust, burning gas in a boiler, livestock methane), as opposed to indirect emissions from producing the energy, materials or goods used.

District Plan

RMA plan prepared by a territorial authority (city/district council) setting zones, objectives, policies and rules for land use and subdivision in its district (e.g. Dunedin's 2GP).

Ecological footprint

The area of biologically productive land and water needed to supply the resources a person or population consumes and absorb its wastes (incl. $CO_2$), usually in global hectares.

Economy of scale (infrastructure; governance)

Cost per unit falls as size or output grows because fixed costs are spread. Infrastructure: one large network or plant is cheaper per user. Governance: larger councils can deliver services more cheaply per person.

Economy of scope (governance)

Cost savings when one organisation delivers several different services together (sharing staff, systems, overheads) rather than separate bodies each delivering one, e.g. a unitary authority.

Embodied emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions from the whole lifecycle of a building or infrastructure that do not depend on how it is used: material extraction, processing, transport, construction, maintenance and demolition.

Entrenchment (in legislation)

Protecting a legal provision so it can only be changed by a special process: in NZ a $75\%$ majority of all MPs or a majority in a referendum (Electoral Act 1993). NZ has only six entrenched provisions; the exception to 'Parliament cannot bind its successors'.

Executive (branch of government)

The branch that governs and administers: Cabinet ministers led by the Prime Minister (propose laws, run departments, ratify treaties) plus the public service that implements policy (collects taxes, pays welfare).

Functional urban area

An urban core and its commuting zone: a city plus surrounding areas whose labour market is highly integrated with it. Defined by people's daily activities (OECD/Stats NZ).

Governance vs. Government

Government = the formal institutions with legal authority to make and enforce rules (Parliament, Executive, councils). Governance = the wider process of steering society and decisions, involving government plus iwi, communities, businesses and NGOs through policy, partnerships and rules.

Governor-General

The Sovereign's representative in NZ; formally appoints ministers, gives Royal assent so bills become law, and summons/dissolves Parliament. By convention acts on ministers' advice (with reserve powers).

Green infrastructure

Integrates natural and built elements (parks, green corridors, urban forests, bioswales, green roofs) to reduce the environmental impact of infrastructure and the built environment; also brings benefits such as better health.

Grey infrastructure

Conventional engineered 'hard' infrastructure of concrete, steel and pipes (e.g. stormwater pipes, culverts, concrete channels, seawalls) that moves water quickly away rather than working with natural processes.

Gridiron (street plan)

A street layout of straight streets crossing at right angles to form rectangular blocks, often laid out regardless of topography (e.g. central Christchurch).

Healthy Streets indicators

Ten indicators (Lucy Saunders) for judging how well a street works for people: pedestrians from all walks of life; easy to cross; shade and shelter; places to stop and rest; not too noisy; people choose to walk and cycle; people feel safe; things to see and do; people feel relaxed; clean air.

Hinterland

In a functional urban area: rural settlements and areas where at least $40\%$ of workers commute to the urban core or secondary urban core. More generally, the area surrounding and served by a city.

Hysteresis

Dependence of a system's state on its history. After a regime change, removing the disturbance does not return the system to its old state (e.g. forest burned to tussock grassland stays grassland).

Indigenous knowledge systems

Knowledge, practices, values and beliefs developed by Indigenous peoples over generations through close relationships with place, passed on orally and through practice (e.g. mātauranga Māori).

Infrastructure services

The services delivered using physical infrastructure that benefit people and the environment, e.g. public transport, freight, energy supply, water supply, waste collection, communications.

Integrated catchment management

Managing land, water, ecosystems and people across a whole catchment as one connected system (ki uta ki tai, mountains to sea), coordinating councils, iwi and communities rather than managing issues separately.

Interdependency (of infrastructures)

When infrastructures rely on each other (two-way) to meet performance objectives. Types: physical, cyber, spatial, logical (decisions), societal. Failure can cascade, e.g. wind > power cut > water treatment failure.

Isometric

A 3D pictorial drawing where the three axes are equally foreshortened and drawn $120^\circ$ apart (receding lines at $30^\circ$ to horizontal); lengths along the axes are true to scale and there is no vanishing point.

Iwi area of interest

Area in which an iwi or hapū has interests, identified under the Māori Fisheries Act 2004 and agreed between iwi/hapū and the Crown when historical Treaty claims are settled; areas can overlap.

Judiciary (branch of government)

The courts and judges: independently interpret and apply the law to resolve disputes and develop the common law through precedent.

Land cover

The physical material on the land surface: forest, grassland, water, buildings, bare ground (what is there).

Land use

How people use the land: farming, housing, industry, conservation, transport (what it is used for). The same land cover can have different uses.

Law

A system of rules recognised and enforced by a society or state to regulate behaviour, with consequences for breaking them.

Legislation

Written law: Acts (statutes) made by Parliament, plus secondary legislation (regulations, bylaws) made under powers delegated by Acts.

Legislative (branch of government)

Parliament (the Sovereign/Governor-General and the House of Representatives): makes laws, scrutinises the Executive and approves taxation and spending.

Local streets (place function)

One Network Framework category: quiet, safe streets mainly giving access to homes and local destinations, with low movement and modest place function. Most urban streets (e.g. St David St).

Material culture

The physical objects, buildings and spaces people make and use, which express and carry a culture's values and identity (e.g. pou whenua, marae, villas).

Mitigation (climate change)

Actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase removals by sinks (e.g. renewable energy, mode shift, afforestation) to limit the extent of climate change.

Model space (technical drawing)

CAD workspace where drawing elements are created at real-world $1:1$ scale (usually metres), in 2D or 3D, using absolute or relative coordinates.

Morphology (of the built environment)

The physical form and structure of a built environment: street pattern, blocks and lots, building forms and density, and how they change over time.

Neighbourhood

A local, usually walkable area within a town or city where people live and interact, with a shared identity and local facilities (shops, schools, parks).

Net zero carbon (net zero emissions)

When greenhouse gases emitted are balanced by an equal amount removed from the atmosphere (e.g. forests, CCS): $\text{net emissions} = \text{gross emissions} - \text{removals} = 0$.

Operational emissions

Emissions generated during the use of infrastructure (also called enabled emissions), e.g. heating, lighting, vehicle fuel. They accumulate over its lifetime and depend on how it is used.

Orthographic projection

Shows a 3D object as several aligned 2D views (front, top, side, etc.) projected at $90^\circ$ to the picture plane, each showing one face at true shape. Third angle: top view above front. First angle: top view below front.

Paper space (technical drawing)

CAD layout at paper scale (millimetres), 2D only, where you set paper size, add the title block and annotations, and use viewports to show the model at chosen scales for printing.

Parliament

NZ's supreme law-making body: the Sovereign (represented by the Governor-General) and the elected House of Representatives.

Pastoral

Relating to grazing livestock (sheep, cattle) on pasture; pastoral land use/farming, which expanded rapidly in the NZ settler economy after 1840.

Physical infrastructure

The built physical networks and assets: roads, tracks, terminals, cables, pipes, nodes, towers, reservoirs, green space, buildings.

Place

Not just buildings and infrastructure in a location: a space given meaning by the experiences and perceptions of the people who use it, over generations. Identity comes from physical setting, activities and meanings.

Placemaking

People-centred planning, development and design: engaging communities to evaluate, prioritise and plan interventions that improve the form, function and feel of shared spaces.

Place function

How much a street is a destination where people spend time: on-street activity, set by adjacent land use and who has priority. Combined with movement function to classify streets (One Network Framework).

Pluralist

Having several coexisting systems, groups or sources of authority. Legal pluralism: more than one legal order operating together, e.g. tikanga Māori alongside statute and common law in NZ.

Precedent (legal system)

An earlier court decision that guides or binds courts deciding later cases with similar facts; decisions of higher courts bind lower courts.

Primary flow paths (stormwater)

The main designed route for stormwater: the piped/reticulated network and channels (sumps, pipes, culverts) sized to carry runoff from frequent, smaller storms.

Primary infrastructure

Physical built systems providing basic services: transport, energy, water services, waste, housing, telecommunications, green/blue space. Judged on sustainability, resilience and efficiency.

Public realm

Publicly accessible spaces between and around buildings: streets, footpaths, parks, squares, plazas, waterfronts.

Public transit

Shared passenger transport open to the public on fixed routes and timetables: buses, trains, ferries, trams.

Raupatu

Confiscation of Māori land by the Crown, notably under the NZ Settlements Act 1863 after the NZ Wars (e.g. Waikato, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty); a major basis for Treaty claims.

Regional Council

Local government for a region (e.g. Otago Regional Council): integrated environmental management of land, water, air and coast; regional and coastal plans; biodiversity and biosecurity; regional transport.

Regional Plan

RMA plan made by a regional council with objectives, policies and rules for managing natural resources (e.g. water takes, discharges, coastal area). Must give effect to the Regional Policy Statement.

Regional Policy Statement

RMA document by a regional council setting out the region's significant resource management issues and policies for integrated management. Regional and district plans must give effect to it.

Resilience

The capacity of a system to recover or reconfigure when conditions change.

Reticulation system

Reticulation = a net-like pattern. A reticulation system is a piped network that distributes or collects water (water supply, wastewater, stormwater).

Climate risk (hazards + exposure + vulnerability)

Risk arises from interactions between climate-related hazards (damaging events/trends), exposure (people and assets in harm's way) and vulnerability (propensity to be harmed; low capacity to cope), and from society's responses.

Rohe

The territory or tribal area of an iwi or hapū, usually defined by landmarks, over which they hold mana whenua.

Satellite urban area

In a functional urban area: a small urban area where at least $40\%$ of workers commute to the urban core or a secondary urban core.

Scale (map or technical drawing)

Ratio of a distance on the drawing to the real distance (e.g. $1:1000 = 1\text{ mm}$ on paper is $1\text{ m}$ on the ground). Choose it so the area fits the paper at the detail needed; larger scale ($1:100$) = more detail, smaller area.

Secondary legislation

Law made by someone other than Parliament under power delegated by an Act: regulations, rules, bylaws, Orders in Council.

Secondary infrastructure

Services and systems built on primary infrastructure that yield outcomes for society: healthcare, education, nutrition, culture, welfare, wellbeing, security. Judged on quality of life, attractiveness and competitiveness.

Secondary flow paths (stormwater)

Overland routes (roads, swales, open ground) that carry stormwater when the primary piped network is full or blocked in larger storms; must be kept clear of buildings.

Secondary urban core

In a functional urban area: a small urban area where at least $40\%$ of workers commute to the urban core.

Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) / Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)

Scenarios used to drive climate projections. RCPs (IPCC AR5) are set by radiative forcing in 2100, e.g. RCP2.6, RCP8.5. SSPs (AR6) combine socioeconomic storylines with forcing levels, e.g. SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road).

Social-ecological-technological system (SETS)

A system where society, ecosystems and technology/infrastructure are interlinked and change together. Built environments and land use regimes are SETS.

Society

People living together in an organised way, according to a system of values and beliefs, that enables basic needs to be met.

Sources of law

Where law comes from. In Aotearoa NZ: statute and delegated legislation, common law, tikanga Māori, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, constitutional conventions, imperial legislation and international law.

Stare decisis

Latin 'to stand by things decided': the doctrine of precedent, under which courts follow earlier decisions of higher courts on similar facts, giving consistency and predictability.

Statute

An Act of Parliament (primary legislation); the highest form of law in NZ under parliamentary sovereignty, able to override common law.

Streetscape

The overall visual and physical character of a street: building frontages, footpaths, street trees, furniture, lighting, signage and roadway, as experienced by users.

Sustainability

Meeting present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet theirs. For infrastructure: the system can be maintained using available resources in a way that meets cultural, environmental and legal expectations.

System

A set of interconnected components that interact as a whole, with boundaries, flows and feedbacks, so a change in one part affects others.

Taiao

The natural world/environment: land, water, air, plants and animals, with which people are interconnected (te taiao).

Tangata

Person or people; e.g. tangata whenua = people of the land, those with mana whenua in an area.

Territorial Authority

A city or district council (e.g. Dunedin City Council): local infrastructure and services, consents and permits, bylaws and the District Plan.