James (Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri) is a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor and PhD candidate at the University of Otago. After working on a range of planning, subdivision and land development projects in Waikato, he returned to the School of Surveying in Dunedin to research alternative housing development models. His PhD project is part of the Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities research programme and looks at critical success factors of cohousing and urban papakāinga. He is also a member of the Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua research team looking at rangatahi Māori perceptions and aspirations related to housing.