{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2022
Reverse sensitivity is a term from the
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...
system.
It describes the impacts of newer uses on prior activities occurring in
mixed-use
Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
areas. Some activities tend to have the effect of limiting the ability of established ones to continue. A key instance is the impact of new residential development on mixed use neighbourhoods as an area goes through a process of
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
. Such prior uses might be entertainment, commercial or industrial uses. New residents tend to have expectations of a level of amenity comparable to suburban residential areas and will complain about noise from established uses. This has previously had the effect of imposing economic burdens or operational limitations on the prior uses that reduce their viability, forcing them to close down or move. The concept of reverse sensitivity suggests that a reversal of this approach is possible and that the burden of providing residential
amenity
In property and land use planning, amenity (lat. ''amoenitās'' “pleasantness, delightfulness”) is something considered to benefit a location, contribute to its enjoyment, and thereby increase its value.
Tangible amenities can include th ...
in mixed-use environments should fall to the developers of new residential buildings in those areas. Planning schemes can regulate these issues via
zoning
In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...