Jo Wills

Building Inclusive Communities Benefits All

Jo Wills — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 21:46:56 +0000

What if we built our cities to illuminate the invisible? To give people choice, safety and inclusion? Those benefits would extend to everyone and we’d end up with a thriving, active and diverse environment.

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Growth Doesn’t Pay for Growth

Jo Wills — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 08:10:10 +0000

We’ve got to stop separating the economy from the natural environment it exists within, as if it’s an entity independent of our making. We all have a role to play in this.

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Guidelines for a Flourishing City

Jo Wills — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 21:35:20 +0000

It would seem the belief system behind urban development in many cities is that a healthy eco-system and a thriving city are mutually exclusive. But does that really have to be the case?

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A Day in the Life of a Female Cyclist

Jo Wills — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 05:29:37 +0000

While I’m confident it’s only men who holler bizarre obscenities at me as I’m cycling, women drivers often squeeze me out.

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Communities Know What’s Good for Them When It Comes to Transport

Jo Wills — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 22:48:33 +0000

Designing transport projects to help free up traffic is a flawed approach if done in isolation or prioritisation to the safe and active movement of people.

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Using Public Transport Makes Us Nicer People

Jo Wills — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 05:56:26 +0000

Whenever I travel, I always feel like I’ve had a true experience of the city or town I’m in after I’ve used the public transport. It feels so inclusive.

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Redefining Growth Through Biophilia

Jo Wills — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 02:03:13 +0000

When the economy is unpacked, people are at its centre and people’s wellbeing is inextricably linked to nature. Investing in Biophilia can help redefine how we understand progress and challenge our perception of growth.

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The Difference Passive Solar Heating Can Make to a Home

Jo Wills — Sun, 23 Jun 2019 17:00:25 +0000

By taking advantage of passive solar gain (orienting our homes towards the sun among other strategies), we can save money, be healthier, and have less impact on the environment.

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Opening Our Hearts and Minds Across the Cultural Divide

Jo Wills — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 01:14:45 +0000

After attending my first formal Maori meeting (hui), I took home a new perspective on a culture I thought I already knew. Turns out I know very little but would love to learn more and I’ll become a better person for it. This experience for me has brought to life a mantra I already believe in—‘Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself’, I just understand it better now.

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What’s the Measure of Success for Good Urban Form?

Jo Wills — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 21:06:23 +0000

What’s the measure of success of good urban form? For me, it’s equity. This looks like all members of the community enjoying access to safe, reliable and affordable transport that connects them within the community and to amenities. It's housing that doesn’t have labels like ‘social’ and ‘affordable’ - everyone gets to live in a space that benefits their wellbeing. It’s also when the intrinsic value of nature is incorporated into our spaces, not built out.

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Striking for System Change, Not Climate Change

Jo Wills — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 22:31:06 +0000

Students have been striking all over New Zealand. Much has been said about the rights and wrongs of them skipping school to march the streets. From my experience, these students understand more about the problem and solutions we’re facing than many of the adults making decisions on their behalf. I spoke to a few of them at the strike to get their thoughts on what the government should be doing to take action against climate change and what they were doing individually.

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Water Bottling – The New ‘Gold Rush’ Industry

Jo Wills — Thu, 23 May 2019 21:34:17 +0000

I oppose the expansion of the Otakiri Water Bottling Plant in the Eastern Bay of Plenty (New Zealand) for a number of reasons, but it’s got me thinking about equity of resources and what that means from a humanitarian perspective. At some stage, unless we experience a massive global sustainability shift, water will become the most precious resource we have. We will need it and so will others.

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