Auckland Plan launched
I spent most of today at the launch of the Auckland spatial plan. Somewhat oddly (although understandably I suppose) the actual plan wasn’t released until right at the end of the day, and most of the day was spent exploring some of the ideas people have about what should be in various aspects of the plan.…
9 Comments The false assumption
Even though the cost-benefit ratio of both bridge (0.6) and tunnel (0.4) options for providing an additional crossing of the Waitemata are pathetically low, I actually think they’re an over-estimate. This is due to the same false assumption that afflicts the analysis of all future roading projects:
That traffic numbers will keep rising
If you have a look through the business case for the harbour crossings, the main justification is that – supposedly – traffic volumes will continue to rise dramatically across the harbour bridge into the future, and therefore we will need more lanes in the form of another crossing.…
Rod Oram on the Spatial Plan
Sunday Star Times business columnist Rod Oram wrote an excellent piece in yesterday’s paper about the Auckland Spatial Plan, which – in the form of a discussion document – is due for release this coming Wednesday.
Looking first at the importance of the Spatial Plan, I have had discussions with a number of people who wonder whether this will be “just another policy document” that ends up as a door-stop – much like many previous plans and policies.…
More on the govt’s Spatial Plan papers
While it’s somewhat strange the NZ Herald hasn’t yet picked up on the papers released by the government about the Auckland Spatial Plan, Radio New Zealand ran quite a detailed look at the matter this morning. Firstly, there’s a piece on their website outlining details of the growing divide between Auckland and Wellington’s vision for how Auckland should grow, and how Aucklanders should get around:
The Government says it is unlikely to be able to pay for any of the aspirations expected to be unveiled by the Auckland Council in its plan for the next 30 years.…
Melbourne gets it….
If you read the following about the land-use planning policies of the Victorian state government, in relation to Melbourne, what would you guess their politics to be?
The… government is considering plans for a carbon-neutral, high-density suburb of 12,000 on Footscray Road, in West Melbourne.…
Transit-Oriented Developments
A great video from Streetfilms on transit-oriented developments (TODs) – with a particular focus on the effect New Jersey’s light-rail system has had on encouraging development around it: I think a fundamental principle of Auckland’s upcoming spatial plan should be to find out ways to encourage and incentivise – through appropriate transport improvements, zoning changes and clever financial tools, a greater focus on TODs.…
Employment: to concentrate or to disperse?
I’ve spent the last couple of days at an interesting conference, based around trying to be smarter about how we intensify our urban areas. There seems to be general agreement – at least amongst planners, architects, policymakers, urban designers and so forth – that we do want to intensify our urban areas, for important sustainability reasons, but also for simple economic efficiency reasons (that I’ve discussed before).…
Exploring the connections between land-use planning and transport
I meet up with quite a few people in person as a result of this blog. Sometimes they’re people in official capacities – at Auckland Transport or wherever, other times they’re just interested readers who have contacted me via email to have a chat about transport stuff.…
The southeast railway line (part 1)
As I mentioned in a post a few days ago on how I think Auckland should integrate transport into its future spatial plan, probably the biggest planning mistake ever made in Auckland’s history is allowing so much development occur east of the Tamaki River: with such poor transport connections.…
Parking guru on National Radio
There was an interesting interview of parking guru Donald Shoup – author of “The High Cost of Free Parking” – on Sunday morning’s national radio. You can listen to the interview here.
Mr Shoup makes some excellent points, recognising the highly political and somewhat irrational feelings which are related to parking.…
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