August already! That means spring is just around the corner, right? Here are some of the stories that caught our eye this week – about transport, housing, kids, dogs, trees, and all the little things that make cities great for people. As always, we look forward to your comments.

A note to readers: like all of our posts, this roundup is lovingly written by human beings (unlike some other media!) and brought to you by a largely volunteer crew. If you’d like to support more of our work, you can donate via this page. Huge thanks to our growing community of enthusiastic supporters!


The week in Greater Auckland


Four-legged urbanist of the week

While out and about, we ran into Gus the Trainspotting Dog. He lives near Mt Eden station, where he keeps an eager eye on the CRL works, and an eager ear out for passing trains. An avid rail aficionado (and timetable obsessive), he regularly drags his owner to primo viewing spots just in time to catch a glimpse of his beloved mode of transport.

His favourite? The classic six-car set, any time, in either direction. His dream day? When the train driver toots the horn. His only grumble? The trains should run even more often than they do, because, woof. We couldn’t agree more. Good work, Gus!

Gus enjoying a citybound six-car set from the viewing platform beside the Horse and Trap. (Image: Jolisa Gracewood)
A very good boy who’s just heard the trains might run even more frequently once the CRL opens. Who could say no to that face? (Image: Jolisa Gracewood)

Downtown Tāmaki Makaurau on the up-and-up

Who lives in central Auckland?

The Spinoff is running a fab series of interviews by Jeremy Hansen – Britomart’s director of communications and community, also noted architecture writer, redoubtable urbanist and man-about-town – with a fascinating range of city-dwellers. So far, the profiles include:

Good news for fans of department stores

Smith & Caughey’s may yet survive, with a proposal for a smaller, more boutique approach concentrated on its Queen St store.

Great news for fans of city skylines

A partnership between Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei and Precinct Properties promises what will be the largest structure on the city skyline, rising from the dust of the Downtown Parking Building. As reported by Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira for RNZ:

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has launched a new Māori-led investment initiative, Te Tomokanga ki Tāmaki — The Gateway to Auckland.

Iwi deputy chairperson Ngarimu Blair made the announcement on Wednesday while speaking at the National Iwi Chair Forum hosted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei on Auckland’s waterfront.

It was followed by an announcement of plans to transform Auckland’s skyline through the redevelopment of the contested Auckland Downtown Carpark into a 56-storey skyscraper with areas for retail and eateries.

“This is our chance to share in the economic prosperity of Tāmaki Makaurau. A city that has hurt us so much, but a city that offers not only us, but all of you, a opportunity to thrive.”

Blair said the Auckland Downtown Carpark was “one of the most sought-after investment sites” in the city and the redevelopment would become a new symbol of the city.

Check out these striking new impressions of the development, which will be guided by tikanga Māori (images: Precinct Properties, via RNZ).

Image: Precinct Properties
Image: Precinct Properties

More trees, please!

Last week we mentioned the upcoming renewal of the plaza behind Britomart/ Waitematā Station. We love this even greener version proposed by Chun Sing Goh, as spotted on LinkedIn.

The plan for Britomart Plaza (top) and an even greener version offered by Chun Sing Goh. Image via LinkedIn

Cities for children are cities for grown-ups, too

From The Atlantic, a great read on why making cities better for kids also improves the lives of the adults around them. It looks at a play-street experiment started by two mums, who found that regular play streets made it “easier to get to know everyone, rather than wait to bump into each other when you’re doing the recycling.” As a researcher comments in the article, this may be because “children’s play alters the feel of the street, giving adults permission to engage in the sort of socializing we’ve otherwise policed out.”

As children poured into the street, some ran into classmates, only just then realizing that they were neighbors. Soon it became clear to everyone present that far more children were living on Greville Road than anyone had known. That session, and the many more it prompted, also became the means by which adult residents got to know one another, which led to another revelation for Ferguson and Rose: In numerous ways, a world built for cars has made life so much harder for adults.

The dominance of cars has turned children’s play into work for parents, who are left coordinating and supervising their children’s time and ferrying kids to playgrounds and play dates. But it has also deprived adults of something more profound. Over the years, as Rose and Ferguson have expanded their experiment to other parts of the United Kingdom, neighborhoods across the country have discovered that allowing kids to play out in the open has helped residents reclaim something they didn’t know they were missing: the ability to connect with the people living closest to them.

A lively example of a play street in Auckland; more of this sort of thing! Image: Healthy Families Waitākere.

Chur to our Chch homies

A shout-out to our southern counterparts Greater Ōtautahi – who are speaking up on a once-in-a-lifetime chance to add more homes to the garden city. Nice work, cousins! Upwards and onwards. Also, groovy logo.

“First impressions? The panel’s recommendations are a mixed bag. We welcome changes that will make it easier to build the new homes that Christchurch desperately needs. But some of their recommendations – particularly restricting building height limits just outside the city centre – will needlessly constrain new housing supply and hold back the vibrancy of our city,” said Greater Ōtautahi spokesperson, M Grace-Stent.

“Christchurch is New Zealand’s second biggest city and has huge potential to be a thriving and lively place that people want to move to. But the housing shortage is holding us back. After the earthquakes, we expanded out because we needed more homes quickly. Now we need to grow up, too. We know that changing the planning rules to allow more homes in existing areas would make our city more liveable, make housing more affordable, and mean better housing choice for our current and future residents – but in particular, young families, students, and elderly residents.”

The Greater Ōtautahi logo: spot the Port Hills, or possible the Southern Alps.

Cleaner air for Greater London

From The Guardian, yet more confirmation that reducing traffic dramatically improves public health:

Levels of harmful air pollutants have dropped significantly since the ultra-low emission zone was enlarged to cover Greater London last year, according to a report from city hall.

Analysis covering the first six months since the Ulez expansion found that total emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from cars across London were 13% lower than projected had the scheme remained confined to inner London, while NOx from vans was 7% lower.

Levels of particulate pollution in the form of PM2.5 exhaust emissions from cars in outer London are an estimated 22% lower than without the expansion.

The total change was equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road for one year, the report said.


NYC liberates yet another lane

Streetsblog reports that work is now underway on the Queensboro Bridge, where the New York Department of Transportation is freeing up a lane of traffic so people can walk and bike safely and comfortably across the water. It’s almost as if this is a thing any city could do…? Within a decade of deciding it was a good idea, even? Who knew!

Work is finally underway to turn a car lane on the Queensboro Bridge into a pedestrian lane, seven years after the Department of Transportation first revealed the plan and two years behind schedule.

DOT erected “suicide-prevention fencing” along parts of the South Outer Roadway of the bridge in recent weeks — the first step toward giving the nearly 3,000 daily pedestrians and 7,000 cyclists separate space on the crossing, one of the busiest cycling stretches in the city.

Cyclists, pedestrians and other micromobility users routinely crash into each other on the tight path, and have for years — even before the number of people (and e-bikes) on the bridge skyrocketed during the pandemic.


Question corner

Why do people park on and/or across footpaths?

From RNZ, a good look at the human impact of inconsiderate parking, and an advocate who’s raising awareness about it.

Sally Britnell said people are parking their vehicles on footpaths of busy roads, stopping those with disabilities, prams, and mobility aids from getting past and forcing them into the path of traffic.

Britnell said her 3-year-old guide dog Sienna will take her up to the car and show her that she cannot get through. With around five to 10 degrees of vision, Britnell will reach out and see how far away it is.

“So I can use that but she will take me up to the car, show me it and then I will tell her to find the way and she will find a way around. Lately more, there hasn’t been ways around and it’s not just because of the car, it could also be because there’s a power pole or things like that.”

In situations like that, the only choice for Britnell and Sienna was to walk out onto the road.

Why is the Minister pursuing lethal speeds in cities, in the teeth of the evidence?

Concern continues to grow over Simeon Brown’s proposed and un-evidenced blanket reversion of urban speeds to a default 50km/h (with no option for 30km/h, the scientific sweet spot for safety). We’ve heard from several sources that there have been almost 10,000 public submissions on his speed rule, an astonishing number given the previous rule only drew a couple of hundred.

The cover of the NZ Herald 2 August 2024: “Vulnerable lives at risk” from Simeon Brown’s proposed speed reversal.

As Rachel Maher reports in today’s cover story on the NZ Herald, the August 2024 issue of the NZ Medical Journal features an editorial by a leading trauma surgeon and other experts, asking the minister to think again.

Chair of the Trauma Surgeons Committee Chris Wakeman published an article in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal along with other experts to express their alarm over the risks, arguing it will do more damage than good.

“I mean, it’s simple physics, you learn in high school, the faster you go, the bigger the problem and our roads aren’t fit for high-speed travel.”

Wakeman said the increase in speed limits would have roll-on effects that had not been mediated by the Government. He said the increase in injuries would further strain the health sector and there would be a greater demand for hospital beds, rehabilitation and ACC facilities.

The cover of the 2 August 2024 edition of the NZ Medical Journal. That’s two negative cover stories in one day for the Transport Minister – a record?

In the same Herald article (and elsewhere, e.g. in The Spinoff) the Minister claims that a number of other countries – “Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Japan, Denmark, UK” – “have default speed limits of 50 kph or more on urban roads, with exceptions for lower speed limits.”

He appears to be under a blanket misapprehension, confusing urban arterials with city streets – .a rookie error. Moreover, his proposal would eliminate the possibility of setting 30kmh limits, even as an exception.

He’s also ignoring the broad moves by peer countries to reduce harm by lowering speeds, e.g. in Wales, where deaths and serious injuries are down by a quarter thanks to 20mph/ 30kmh zones in urban areas.

We look forward to continued rigorous fact-checking of the Minister’s reckons, and an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of his key caveat, re raising speeds only “where it is safe to do so.”

Twenty is plenty in most urban neighbourhoods in Japan. Someone please inform the Minister. Image: Jolisa Gracewood
Why is this coalition government ignoring the massive opportunities around transport and climate action?

From Marc Daalder at Newsroom, a look at the glaring gaps in the new Emissions Reduction Plan (which might as well be an Emissions Enhancement Plan, aka “EEP”). The Climate Change Commission’s recent scorecard on the government’s climate policy reveals worrying gaps around agriculture and transport, i.e. cows and cars:

Affordability issues for EVs have returned with the axing of the Clean Car Discount, and the commission advised the Government to tighten controls on the only remaining EV uptake policy, the Clean Car Standard. However, the Government announced earlier in July that it would in fact weaken the standard.

Current policies are also unlikely to increase walking, cycling and public transport use to levels that would “make a substantial contribution to reducing emissions”, the commission warned. Nor would freight be shifted from trucks to rail and coastal shipping under current settings. “This will put more pressure onto decarbonising the light and heavy vehicle fleets to meet future emissions budgets.”

Scorecard for the government’s climate polices, from the Climate Change Commission.
Why do we put up with so much traffic noise? I said, WHY DO WE oh never mind

From David Zipper at Bloomberg, a look at the quiet power of car-free neighbourhoods.

…what I found most striking about Leipzig’s historic core was not a presence, but an absence: There was no car noise at all. Instead of squealing brakes and rumbling engines, I heard café chatter and chiming clock towers.

A website supported by the German government explains why that was the case. In the 1990s, Leipzig’s leaders wanted to do something about its car-clogged city center, which was “almost at a standstill.” The result was a low-traffic plan for the area that diverted vehicles to surrounding roads, giving more street space to people walking and biking.

With cars now nearly absent from Leipzig’s downtown, my stroll was strikingly free of noise — and also delightful, as I enjoyed the thrill of a place that was both vibrant and quiet. I ended up wandering the streets for hours longer than I had planned (and spending more money, too).


Infographics of the week

We knew the construction boom wouldn’t last forever, but this is starting to be a big concern. Building consents in Auckland are down by nearly half this June, compared to June 2023.

Building consents in Auckland: 12-month rolling total. Graphic by Greater Auckland.

And as for this chart, we can think of a local example for every line – can you? Feel free to share yours in the comments, and have a great weekend!

Graphic by Eric Partaker, via LinkedIn.
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22 comments

  1. At the Olympics NZ is winning some medals. People see this as a measure of our place in the world.
    We are very proud of the women rugby sevens team. They have great culture and team work.
    Countries such as Spain are producing champions and winning events including tennis, football, yachting, basketball. In the superblocks of Spanish Cities the streets have been calmed or made car free. Families have taken over and people play soccer and more. There is less driving and people are more healthy.
    Some NZ people are spending too much time commuting. Is there any street in Auckland where kids play tennis or cricket? Some students get up early morning and commute for up to 3 hours a day and have no time for study and extracurricular activities. Some adults are driving hours a day and have no time for sport. Our racing drivers are doing well because they learn to drive at an early age and own their first car when in their teens. Fewer people are joining our struggling clubs and in our sprawling city we might not be producing so many sporting champions in the future.
    Apartments have more outdoor space and sports areas that are good for families, cities and cost of living.

  2. Totally agree with the piece on making cities for children. It’s great just being able to go for a walk around the neighbourhood on a bike, scooter, etc – jump in a puddle, climb a tree. But the roads are dangerous and parking on footpaths is pretty bad – particularly because it is usually tradespeople in large utes/vans or couriers speeding around. None of which feels safe for vulnerable users.

    We don’t all have to hop in cars to drive to a dedicated park or play area which funnily enough makes the streets more hostile with more vehicles. More LTNs please.

    1. Unfortunately, sad reality for a-lot of young people, you usually find a lot of young people working in low paid roles here in Auckland and across New Zealand. They stay in low paid jobs into their 30’s or late 30’s, in-which you struggle to build savings cause of low amounts of managerial roles in Auckland. There are more low paying jobs that outweigh high paying jobs, you see people leaving the country cause theirs more low paid jobs and less managerial roles. Staying in a low paid role isn’t fulfilling or breaks your confidence in staying here in New Zealand and Auckland. You contend with high of cost of living and build little savings versus Sydney & Melbourne where you can find managerial jobs. Also you have to contend with rent prices, rent availability. Auckland and whole of New Zealand isn’t nice to young people, make them work harder or harder to point where its unachievable to have a life here.So they’ve had enough and leave Auckland and New Zealand.

      That’s why we’re seeing more Young people move overseas cause more young people friendlier cities around the world than Auckland and New Zealand. ‘Cost of living’ in Sydney & Melbourne, cheaper & fairer too. Over double or triple cheaper rents, double cheaper housing costs, better quality of life & living, cheaper electricity costs with electricity companies providing complementaries like Netflix, internet included. Also cheap mobile data plans, 90 GB of data for less than $35 compared to here in New Zealand you get less than 5 GB for data for $25, if wanted $10 more worth of date could get you 5 GB or 10 GB of data.

      Central government needs to build a real estate development scheme for office tower high-rise buildings to attract NZ made businesses and international coperations so they build more high paying jobs for young people to boost aspirations and see a reason for staying in Auckland. A lot of NZ made businesses and international cooperation’s can’t build office tower high-rise buildings cause it’s unaffordable, cost time and money like you saw with COVID-19. A lot of there are companies in-needs of financial assistance from government to build office tower high-rise buildings. In doing so would boost companies cost in operating office tower high-rise building based by energy consumption per day and building newer building is more cost efficient in energy than older building. The more government assist companies in construction of office tower high-rise buildings, companies already in Auckland would grow their existing workforce meaning more managerial roles and help bring in more companies.

      Building a Auckland Downtown Carpark high-rise like building somewhere else in the CBD but with real estate development scheme for office tower high-rise buildings would be huge opportunity for bringing NZ Citizens back into New Zealand and Auckland. Also living here in New Zealand and Auckland permanently. A lot young people would be willing to stay, if there was more managerial roles since it would help them build savings to buy a house!

  3. “Why is the Minister pursuing lethal speeds in cities?” – it is surely time to ask the question as to whether the Minister is capable or competent of doing his job. Perhaps he simply does not have enough life experience, or common sense, to be put in charge of such a position. He is certainly not basing decisions on research-led advice, in the way that a wiser politician may do. In the same way that America is now starting to think about having an upper age limit for their politicians, perhaps we also need to start to think about minimum levels for our politicians to have attained.

    On the other hand, great pictures of Gus the dog. He knows a thing or two!

    1. The other question is of course; Where is the opposition Transport Minister? We had hopes Julie-Anne Genter would step up but that hasn’t gone to plan. So who is the Labour Transport person? So easy for them to be scoring so many easy wins against this Transport Minister’s Policies. There is no need to plan the man here, tempting tho it is. The Minister is putting so many silly balls into play that there is a wealth of opportunity.

      1. Tangi Utikere of Palmerston North is Shadow Transport Minister. In parliament since 2020. Damien O’Connor of West Coast-Tasman is Shadow Assoc. Minister of Transport.

    2. Isn’t it obvious why speeds are going back up? Votes. Simple as that. The govt was elected on a mandate to overturn the speed reductions and that’s what they are doing. The only evidence being followed is the clear evidence that votes can be gained from increased speed limits. 120 thrown in on top will also be wildly popular.

      1. Nah. It’s just ideological, at least the inner city stuff.

        Councils are rebelling at the request of their constituents, and public polls show more people prefer the speed limits than not.

        Also, I doubt it’s much of a vote winner/loser. Transport doesnt typically move the needle much in Central government. politics. It’s Minister Brown’s only little culture war now

  4. The minister is lying:
    1. He is the one with BLANKET speed rules, outlawing targeted safe and appropriate bespoke speeds everywhere.
    2. Evaluation of these always took economic impacts into account, this has not just started under his diktat.
    3. The UK, Japan and all those other countries are absolutely covered in slower speed limits in all sorts of conditions.
    4. There is no evidence to support any of his claims, in fact it clearly and consistently refutes them.
    5. Regardless of whatever mandate he feels he has his determination to force this through will kill and maim more people.
    6. Therefore this is a clear dereliction of ministerial duty of care, and should be career ending.

    I presume they haven’t sacked every one in the Crown Law office, as I suspect they will be wasting public money defending this inexplicable passion of the Minister’s.

    1. The minister is simply following through with what he promised pre election. Shocking I know. But maybe consider it’s what the public wants, also BOTH rules were “blanket” in their own way. If this was such a bad decision the govt would be voted out but they are likely gaining votes as a result. Also side note Japan is a terrible example of low speed limits working. 60k default, most drivers add 20k to the speed limit (e.g 50 in a 30 and 70 in a 50), main reason why fatal accidents are small for population is because many people don’t drive. Just remember this rule (well the draft version anyway) doesn’t require to increase speeds back to 100 on rural roads (state highways will probably be an exception) but the 30 zones really aren’t a big loss they have extremely low compliance and it’s not where most of the deaths are happening. The vast majority of fatalities are on rural roads. Queensland has no 30 zone’s whatsoever yet the road toll is lower.

  5. Great to see Ngāti Whātua in a position to take an economic stake in the City. Unlike other private investment sources (which can come and go), they’re going nowhere. This will add a much-needed long-term perspective in the continued development of Auckland (among other things).

    1. I am very much looking forward to them redeveloping east of the centre over the rail yards. It will bring that part of the city to life and bring all of the area into the centre.
      The stadium renders look cool but if they don’t happen the rest of it is still worthwhile.

    2. Same here! The only thing we got close to Auckland Carpark development is the Civic food court, closed down food stalls, ‘up for lease’ signs on stalls, dark eating area where no one can seat lunch on their work-break(practically rundown). No other food court to eat out in Auckland during work-break. Plenty of food courts in Melbourne & Sydney in the CBD area.

      You don’t face anything like this in Sydney or Melbourne. In Sydney you got Regent place & Pitt Street shopping centre food court In Melbourne you got places like Queen Victoria Building, sprawling, with long queues at food stalls and food court filled with diverse kinds of international cultural foods. Also in Sydney and Melbourne, you feel a cultural vibe inside the CBD and a very distinctive authentic experience vibe. Experience you can’t get anywhere else in the world. You don’t feel authentic experience here in Auckland or any other city in New Zealand! Sydney or Melbourne food courts you can hangout with colleagues or catch up with friends from other companies they work.

  6. The many anti-planning zealots who frequent this website should think carefully about that building consents graph. All the high density zoning in the world means jack if the financial conditions ain’t right.

    1. The financial conditions have been right in the past, but overly restrictive planning has blunted it’s impact.

      Maybe the zealots on the other side of the argument need to remember that.

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