Postcard from Freiburg
After Paris we spent a day and two nights in Freiburg before heading on to Switzerland to meet Stu Donovan and go skiing. By the time you read this, we will be on the slopes! Here are a few thoughts and impressions of the place.…
17 Comments CRL has officially started
Some great news with the first physical works to enable the City Rail Link kicking off following a dawn blessing yesterday Preliminary work for Auckland’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL) started today with a dawn blessing of the work site by Manawhenua.…
East-West consenting to happen
Normally organisations don’t make announcements late on the last Friday afternoon before Christmas unless it’s about something they don’t want much coverage of by the media. Last Friday the NZTA made an announcement that would fit in that category – they’re now going to try and obtain consent for the East-West Link.…
2015 – Auckland’s Watershed Year
The more I look at the events and data of 2015 the clearer it becomes that this has been a profoundly significant year for Auckland. It is my contention that this year the city reached a critical turning point in its multi-year evolution back to true city pattern. …
Sunday reading 20 December 2015
This is the last Sunday reading post I’ll assemble this year. I hope you’ve enjoyed it – see you in 2016!
Let’s start with a look at economic geography – specifically, how railroad history shaped internet history. Ingrid Burrington at Citylab tells the story of how persistent infrastructure networks can be:
My favorite part of looking for network infrastructure in America is really all the ghosts.…
Postcard from Paris
Greetings from Paris. Actually, by the time you read this, I will probably be on a train to Germany. Here are a few thoughts from the city that Walter Benjamin called “the capital of the 19th century”.
The day I arrived in Paris, negotiators were finalising and approving the new climate accords.…
Unitary Plan zone changes
In recent weeks the Herald would have you believe that the council bogeymen are about to turn up on your doorstep in the middle of the night and force you to turn your house into a “highrise” three storey terraced house or apartment – note: even just using the terms three storey and high-rise together is utter stupidity.…
Council Caves on Freyberg
Despite over 80% of submissions in support of closing the pointless lane through Freyberg Square, the council have caved to the wishes a few complaining retailers who consistently seem determined to hold the city back – often so they can park outside their shops.…
David Seymour on education
Back in August, the Herald ran an article on the “Grammar zone squeeze: 1800 new apartments to put pressure on school rolls”. I helped the author with the numbers for the article, using info from the RCG Development Tracker. Based on that, I said that “more than 1,800 apartments will be completed in the Auckland Grammar zone in the next three years, with 600 of those also falling in the Epsom Girls Grammar zone”, excluding student accommodation, projects completed before August 2015, and the proposed Boulevard Hotel redevelopment in Newmarket.…
Red Light warning markers
Auckland Transport are trialling a new warning system in Remuera till the end of September next year in a bid to stop people running red lights. They’re adding red markers to the road that light up when the signals have changed as another visual clue that drivers need to stop.…
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