{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2022
Reverse sensitivity is a term from the
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
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. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
system.
It describes the impacts of newer uses on prior activities occurring in
mixed-use
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
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 of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
. 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 the ...
in mixed-use environments should fall to the developers of new residential buildings in those areas. Planning schemes can regulate these issues via
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...