Waterproofing the City
As the planet continues to cook, extreme weather events like those we experienced over the last two weeks are set to become more frequent. How we plan our cities to mitigate the risks of climate change will inevitably be more salient going forward, and that will only increase over time.…
33 Comments NIMBYs go BANANAs over young singles in their area
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard):
“bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone)
“cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything).…
More Homes vs Light Rail
Last week, the Coalition for More Homes sent a letter that we really shouldn’t have had to write. But first, some backstory and some acronyms.
Auckland Council is required to implement Government planning reforms called the NPS-UD and MDRS. The NPS-UD (National Policy Statement on Urban Design 2020).…
Abolish Zoning?
Much is made about how our cities manage the growth of the housing stock by engaging in the process of “urban planning”, that this is performed by “urban planners”, and that the colourful maps which are the outcome of this process done by these people are “plans”.…
Protecting Tāmaki Makaurau’s Urban Character
If twenty-thousand buildings across the city were determined to have exactly the same kind of character, few would try to claim that each and every one is “special”. And yet, this is exactly what Auckland Council planners are doing. The National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) is a document containing international best practices for developing affordable, accessible, and low-carbon cities, which directs the major local authorities to upzone to allow up to 6 story apartments near to important transit and employment centres.…
Building Local
In their ongoing efforts to tackle the housing crisis in New Zealand and reshape urban development, the government put forward a bipartisan RMA amendment at the end of last year, which most notably introduced the so-called Townhouse Nation standards to allow 3 homes of 3 stories on almost any suburban site.…
Futile Councillors Fight An Affordable Future
Like both housing and heritage advocates, Auckland Council is rushing to put out a response to the recently announced Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) which are currently going through select committee. Last week, they had their monthly public planning committee meeting, much of which revolved around their submission.…
The Great Intensification
The government shocked everyone yesterday as Minister of Housing Megan Woods and Minister for the Environment David Parker held a joint press conference in the beehive theatrette with Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins and Opposition Housing Spokesperson Nicola Willis.
The only thing more surprising was what they were actually announcing: New Zealand is abolishing single family zoning.…
Would You Like Cars with That?
Parking minima is appealing as people see the need for a household to have parking as inevitable, so it follows that as we intensify that we need buildings to provide parking in proportion to the new households who would move in.…
Auckland Council is planning for Unaffordability
Yesterday, Auckland Council revealed some of the work it has been doing in response to the National Policy Statement for Urban Development (NPS-UD), the government’s attempt to coerce councils into enabling more urban intensification, particularly up to 6 stories, around transit nodes to improve housing affordability.…
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