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What we do
MCERT helps New Zealand make better long-term decisions about the places people live, move, build, grow and protect.
Our work
We help make decisions that shape everyday life in New Zealand: where homes are built, how people move around, how infrastructure is planned, how communities and regions grow, and how our natural and urban environments are protected.
These decisions affect each other, so we look at them together. We help government and communities plan for growth, invest in the right infrastructure, manage environmental limits, reduce long-term risks and build resilience so people and places can thrive, now and in the future.
Our work helps enable:
- more homes in the right places
- transport and infrastructure that support how people live and work
- healthier natural systems and clearer environmental limits
- better planning for floods, coastal change and other natural hazards
- stronger regional and local decision-making
- more transparent choices about costs, benefits and trade-offs.
Who we are
We’re the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT). Its our job to connect the things that shape productive places and healthy environments, now and for future generations. We do that through good evidence and advice, reform and regulation, investment and delivery, and long-term stewardship of the systems New Zealand depends on.
We bring together work previously done by:
- the Ministry of Transport
- the Ministry for the Environment
- the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
- the Department of Internal Affairs (local government work).
Our three key outcomes
Productive cities and regions
Places generate and sustain opportunities, growth and access.
We are working towards:
- efficient, responsive urban development and infrastructure
- abundant, affordable housing
- safe and efficient freight networks and market connections
- sustainable transport, housing and infrastructure funding systems
- future-oriented planning that anticipates pressures, risks and opportunities
- regional, sector and Māori economic growth.
Thriving communities
People and communities are connected, supported and able to participate in and shape their futures.
We are working towards:
- equitable support for those in housing need
- Māori and iwi-led solutions for hapū, whānau and communities
- safe, accessible and reliable local transport and services
- effective, financially sustainable local government and civic participation
- resilient communities, marae and households.
Healthy environments
Healthy natural systems support wellbeing, prosperity and resilience.
We are working towards:
- healthy environments, ecosystems and biodiversity
- sustainable use of natural resources
- lower emissions
- less waste and pollution
- natural systems that support resilience and adaptation.
Strategic intentions
Our Strategic Intentions document sets out the outcomes MCERT seeks to influence.