The regulation of environmental accessibility in New Zealand

This paper presents the results of a theoretically informed study of access regulation in Dunedin, New Zealand. Drawing upon a theoretical review of access legislation in a range of Western countries, it is suggested that legislative compliance is likely to be compromised in policy settings by social structural factors, including the social oppression of disabled people, the commodified land economy and state deregulation. The Dunedin case study established that access regulation in this city was plagued by problems of non‐compliance and non‐enforcement. The influence of sociostructural factors was intimated. However, only a broader, empirically‐informed investigation of policy practice can establish whether this intimation is a fact.