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This case study reports a two-phase research project into tourism development in a rural district, Timaru, in the South Island of New Zealand. It addresses a lack of research into small town regeneration in New Zealand. The research is set within scholarly debates about small-town tourism-led regeneration, place promotion, and the impact on tourism of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a qualitative social research methodology, the first phase of the research, preCOVID-19, illustrates attempts to realise the potential of an underdeveloped visitor economy in Timaru. The challenges faced by tourism advocates are outlined, as are the halting attempts to advance their goals. The second research phase reports the dramatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it stimulated a reimagining of tourism and its development in Timaru leading to new and more effective administrative arrangements and place promotion tactics, supported by extra-local funding. The case study concludes with a brief discussion of the research findings as they relate to the scholarly context of our work, emphasising particularly the influence the COVID-19 pandemic might have in the re-imagining of tourism and the practices of tourism development in rural places and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss case studies of three South Island small towns: Ashburton, Timaru and Oamaru and their wider local authority jurisdictions, focusing on how local stakeholders are defining the issues facing these places and identifying, prioritising and investing in regeneration initiatives, sometimes with the support of central government and other external agencies. Our key finding is that small‐town regeneration is complex, demands a long‐term local collaborative approach, and significant investment in skills, information sharing and programme development, some of which needs to be provided by external, central government, agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of accommodation-sharing platforms, such as Airbnb, is seen as a disruption to more conventional accommodation providers and rental markets in many cities and regions worldwide. This Regional Graphic focuses on New Zealand, showing a snapshot in time of the spatial distribution of the accommodation provided by Airbnb. What the map shows are patterns of statistically significant mildly positive clustering (Moran's I = 0.33, p ≤ 0.05) of the Airbnb locations. The 'traditional' tourism hotspots, mainly in the South Island of New Zealand, for example, Wanaka or Queenstown (Queenstown Hill, Lake Hayes South, Sunshine Bay), and the largest city, Auckland (Central West, East, Habourside and Waiheke Island), are shown. A few of the highest ranked places also feature a high intensity per usually resident person. For example, Queenstown Hill has 204 Airbnb listings per 1000 residents. The area with the highest number of Airbnbs is Wanaka, a smaller South Island tourist destination. A key issue for future research is how short-term rentals pose a challenge to local authorities who collect property taxes based on the value of the property, with some local authorities (e.g., Auckland) proposing or enacting specific by-laws in relation to Airbnb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistent with discussions about public art and creative place-making in processes of rural settlement regeneration, this paper reports an enquiry into the recent appearance of large outdoor murals in several rural towns in the South and Mid Canterbury regions of Te Waipounamu the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. The enquiry is part of a larger study of rural settlement regeneration in which a variety of social, cultural, environmental, and economic revitalisation initiatives designed by local people are being interpreted. With that focus, our purpose in this paper is to describe and interpret the form and content of the murals under study and the ways they are used to distinguish places and their residents. Reflecting on the existing literature, which emphasises public art as a marker of place identity that is influenced by processes of commodification, we interpret the rural mural phenomenon as a key interlinked cultural and economic element in rural regeneration. Adding a policy dimension, we also examine the possibility of linking murals into wider networks of public art across Te Waipounamu the South Island. • Public art is an element of creative place-making in rural areas internationally. • Creative place-making has strong links to rural cultural and economic regeneration. • Outdoor murals are an example of a flourishing form of rural public art. • Murals emphasise place identity using elements of natural and cultural heritage. • Murals differentiate rural places from others and can attract tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Derived from a wider study of place-based economic, social, cultural and environmental regeneration initiatives in small regional New Zealand towns, and reflecting on international research that emphasises the importance of long-term collaborative effort, effective governance and locally-based leadership in regional regeneration, this paper examines the ways locally-based benevolent property development entrepreneurs are attempting to contribute to their regional town-centres. The experience of towns in mid and South Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand, where national and global commercial property developers are reluctant to invest, are used as case studies. We discuss how property-led town-centre regeneration in small regional towns in New Zealand such as these may best be characterised. This work is then used to outline a policy agenda that would help local government and allied stakeholders to engage more effectively and cooperatively with local property developers. This work has relevance for an international audience interested in the town-centre regeneration challenges faced by the residents and local governments of small regional towns in neo-liberal polities. • Local benevolent entrepreneurs are investing in regional town-centre regeneration in New Zealand. • These investors are often property development neophytes and underestimate the complexity of the development process. • Local councils are unable and unwilling to work with these entrepreneurs to make the most of the investment offer. • An agenda to help local government and benevolent property entrepreneurs work cooperatively in New Zealand as outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we reflect on the interlinkages between social impact assessment and evaluation and, in particular, realist evaluation. To examine the connections between these fields of practice we draw on recent research in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, in which we linked social impact assessment and elements of realist evaluation in the study of rural and small-town regeneration. We use the research to identify a number of connections and to make suggestions regarding greater convergence of methods in social impact assessment and evaluation. We conclude by urging social impact assessment practitioners to use mixed methods, with a stronger emphasis on qualitative approaches, and especially to work with communities in an iterative way towards a conceptual basis for assessing and managing change and enhancing social wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]