Notes on a New Zealand City: Wellington
This is a guest post from reader Robert McLachlan
On the evening of Friday November 26, 1971, viewers of the sole Wellington television channel, then called “Central Television”, could watch the 40-minute film “Notes on a New Zealand City”. Everything about this film is spot on and, especially with the passage of time, extremely moving.…
64 Comments Get on with Queen St
There was an interesting opinion piece on Stuff yesterday from travel journalist Brook Sabin talking about the Queen St and labelling it a disgrace.
The country’s most well-known street should be a celebration of our identity. Imagine if it were lined with trees, artwork, sculptures, pedestrians, and some of our best Kiwi retailers.…
How (round-trip) Carshare can ‘drive’ change in Cities
This is a guest post by Ben Carter, General Manager of Cityhop
The future of mobility is an internationally hot topic. New Zealand has several ride share, e-scooter, bike share, and car share operators. Twitter and council chambers around the country have all debated the value these modes bring to a city.…
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.…
Making the city center even greater
As we learnt last year, the council is in the process of refreshing the City Centre Masterplan (CCMP). The current version was adopted in 2012 and has been critical in helping shape our city centre, such as the work that currently going on around the downtown area, and coming up with the concept for the Victoria St Linear Park.…
Downtown Transformation Video
There are three key areas that many cities all around the world are investing significantly in to deliver outcomes for people, the economy and the environment. These are: Improving public transport
Improving active mode and micro-mobility infrastructure
Improving the public realm, often by reclaiming space from vehicles The downtown area of Auckland is currently in the midst of a significant transformations that will deliver on all three of these, changing the area to much more people friendly and attractive place.…
Auckland Declares a Climate Emergency, but is it enough?
Yesterday the Auckland Council unanimously agreed to declare a climate emergency, joining other cities in New Zealand and around the world in doing so.
“By unanimously voting to declare a climate emergency we are signalling the council’s intention to put climate change at the front and centre of our decision making,” says Mayor Phil Goff
Today, members of Auckland Council’s Environment and Community Committee voted to join a growing community of cities around the world who have formally and publicly recognised the urgency for action on climate change by declaring a climate emergency.…
Flashback Saturday: Auckland’s Improving CBD
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post was first published in May 2011.
One of the pitfalls of looking at transport and urban planning matters on a daily basis is that you can sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture.…
Guest Post: Competitive Cities – A Decade of Shifting Fortunes
This is a Guest Post by Geoff Cooper, Chief Economist & Director, PwC Cities Institute.
Earlier this month the PwC Cities Institute released its first report on the competitiveness of cities in Australasia over the last decade, titled Competitive Cities: A Decade of Shifting Fortunes.…
Flashback Saturday: The City Centre Master Plan
Every weekend we dig into the archives. This post was first published in May 2011.
It’s certainly a busy time at the moment for big long term planning documents in Auckland. As well as the much talked about “Auckland Spatial Plan”, Auckland Council has now released a discussion document on a “City Centre Master Plan.”
I have talked a bit about the Master Plan in the past – when it was in its earlier stages of formulation.…
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