Neoliberal Planning in Practice: Use Value or Exchange Value? A Post-Positivist Investigation of Auckland’s Housing Affordability Issues

This research presents an alternative investigation of Auckland’s housing affordability issues by focusing on deeper structural issues within neoliberal capitalism. Based on abductive inference, this research moves beyond commonly cited factors for Auckland’s affordability issues and generates an alternative hypothesis. It hypothesises that Auckland’s housing affordability issues stem not from a housing shortage, but from a fundamental structural issue inherent in neoliberal capitalism: the contradiction between use value and exchange value. The main aim of this thesis is to test the validity of this hypothesis in the particular context of Auckland to explore how this contradiction structurally contributes to the housing affordability issues. Political discourse theory, as a post-positivist research approach, is applied as the methodology of the research. The methodology offers a distinctive approach that effectively bridges the dichotomies between universalism and particularism. Based on this feature of political discourse theory, this thesis establishes a coherent analytical framework, articulating conceptual dialogue between particularism and universalism and Lefebvre’s spatial triad theory: conceived space, perceived space, and lived space. This framework is subsequently applied in two case studies, Hobsonville Point and the Tāmaki area, to examine the validity of the universal theory of contradiction between use value and exchange value in the particular context of Auckland. Drawing on the Lefebvrian concept of conceived space, this research demonstrates that the hegemonic ideology of neoliberalism influences planning policymaking to redirect the role of the institutional dimensions of planning policies from use value towards exchange value. Consequently, the contradiction between use value and exchange value contributes as a structural factor to housing affordability issues in Auckland. By employing Lefebvre’s concept of perceived space, the study reveals that neoliberal planning financial arrangements, rather than providing use value, are oriented towards the maximisation of exchange value. As a consequence, this contradiction operates as the main barrier to delivering affordable housing in planning practices. Finally, drawing on Lefebvre’s concept of lived space, this research investigates the true recipients of newly produced housing in both case studies. It identifies that housing allocation practices in Hobsonville Point and Tāmaki are structured in line with the neoliberal logic of exchange value. Housing units are distributed based on their capacity to be exchanged in the housing market. Therefore, the theoretical and empirical findings of this thesis validate that the contradiction between use value and exchange value contributes as a structural factor to housing affordability issues in Auckland. Finally, it proposes agonistic communicative planning for rearticulating the institutional dimensions of planning policies to counter the contradiction between housing use value and exchange value in order to improve housing affordability in Auckland.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Rezayee, Maqsood

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Brown, Deidre
• Bahmanteymouri, Elham

• housing affordability
• Auckland
• neoliberalism
• Harvey
• use value and exchange value
• Lefebvre
• conceived space
• perceived space
• lived space
• communicative planning

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/76082

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/76082