One of the reasons Cam Perkins says he was attracted to New Zealand was Auckland’s Te Aranga Maori design principles. The “recovering” Australian, as he likes to refer to himself, says the whole idea of kaitiakitanga, or guardianship of the land, in the design process was massively appealing.

“I’ve never really had an opportunity to work like that before, because in Australia the work that we did with the indigenous population was really quite restrained,” says the now principal landscape architect for Auckland’s urban regeneration agency, Panuku. “That’s largely because of the country’s recent history and the policy positions of concurrent governments.

“What really attracted me here was this idea that it’s part of the design process, to be working as custodians of the land. It appealed to me because it aligns with my own personal views about what we should be doing with our cities and open spaces.”

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