Urban issues: Where Railways used to house its employees

Urban issues correspondent Bill McKay jumps back in history to a time when the Railways Department ran a successful building programme in the 1920s that ensured its employees had somewhere to stay. 1600 houses were built, often in the space of two weeks by 2 - 3 carpenters. It was a forerunner to the famous state houses of the First Labour Government. Could we learn something from this prefab period in our history? Bill McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland.