Auckland Building Activity soars
In mid-2009, in the wake of the global financial crisis, the number of new building consents issued over a 12-month period plunged to the lowest point since the regional level data began in 1990 (prior to that it is only at a national level).…
26 Comments Flashback Saturday: How should we pursue good urban design?
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post by Peter was originally published in November 2016.
I’m not an urban designer or an architect – economists are famously bad at that sort of thing – but I do pay attention to the way places are built.…
Good Density
(Credit for above image: Point and Miller)
Promoting density is critical to avoid locking in sprawling, inefficient and climate-vulnerable modes of growth, but the kind of density matters. ‘Good density’ means functionally and socially mixed neighbourhoods with access to green spaces, comfortable, affordable, and climate-smart housing for all, and high-quality public transport networks.…
Flashback Saturday: Why I love intensification in my neighbourhood
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post was first published in May 2013 as one of John Polkinghorne’s first guest posts. Six years on, John has never quite gotten used to referring to myself in the third person. He’s still living in Auckland’s city centre, albeit with a much worse commute – it’s gone from a 10 minute walk to 15 – now has an actual baby rather than hypothetical kids, and a much larger apartment.…
Great North Boulevard
With Aucklanders suffering a housing crisis and poor transport choice, new housing in convenient, well-connected parts of Auckland can’t come soon enough. While the unitary plan allows for new housing along transport corridors, there are still a number of barriers slowing the regeneration of these areas.…
Drury Structure Plan still not quite right
Back in January I highlighted a major risk that the Council was ruining the Drury growth area by preferring the position of a few landowners over years of previous technical analysis and common sense. Key to my concern was the location of train stations to serve the southern greenfield growth area – the largest area of sprawl currently being planned, but also an area with a train line running right through the middle of it.…
A transit oriented development at Smales Farm?
The Northern Busway has been one of Auckland’s most successful transport investments. In the 11 years since it opened it has become the best and most used public transport corridor in probably all of the country. At peak times in the peak direction there are now buses, mostly double deckers, every minute or two and off-peak and counter-peak there are buses every 5-10 minutes.…
Flashback Saturday: Removing the RUB won’t necessarily work as planned
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post by Matt was originally published in May 2016.
Yesterday Phil Twyford announced that it would be Labour’s policy to abolish Auckland’s Rural Urban Boundary (RUB), as part of a policy to improve housing affordability.…
Flashback Saturday: The strange side effects of parking subsidies
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post by Peter was originally published in May 2016.
Parking policies are frequently bizarre. Parking is, after all, a private good – it is both rivalrous (two cars can’t park in the same space at the same time) and excludable (if you don’t want someone parking in your space, you can keep them out).…
The causes and economic consequences of rising regional housing prices (part 3)
This is a post from Peter Nunns. See Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
In the first two posts in this series I introduced the postgraduate research project I’ve been working on, which looks at the causes and economic consequences of rising regional housing prices in New Zealand, and outlined the role of scarcity in driving house prices up, especially in Auckland.…
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