The Political Economy of Car Dependence
Leading Image: Sacrificing pedestrian environments and green infrastructure to sell (electric) cars.
Why do both our major parties plan to spend billions of dollars on new roads and sprawl development of farmland?
Our government is catching up on the backlog of rural road safety issues, is slowly improving rail and public transport, is funding “three waters” infrastructure maintenance and upgrades to assist brownfields housing developments and has introduced internationally-renowned planning changes to enable regeneration of our cities.…
111 Comments Weekly Roundup – 24-July 2020
Here’s the roundup for the week. Good Auckland Transport
Auckland Transport are consulting on a series of short sections of new T2 lanes on the North Shore in order to speed up buses.
Three North Shore areas are set for faster and more reliable bus journeys as Auckland Transport (AT) seeks public feedback on proposed improvements.…
Weekly Roundup – 17-July 2020
Here’s our roundup of items for the week. If you’re a Western Line user I hope you’re found other solutions for today as the line is closed for works. Queen St Pedestrian Mall
The area in front of Britomart is currently undergoing a massive renovation into a public space now that the City Rail Link tunnels have been built underneath it.…
Yet Another Port Report
Last week we had yet another port report and another new preferred location. This is the second port study in just eight months and the third in four years, although report this is more inline with the report from four years ago.…
Getting on with Queen St – but get the cars out
One of the few benefits of COVID-19 is that it brought forward the plans to change Queen St and make it more pedestrian friendly. Not long prior to the country locking down, the council approved the updated City Centre Masterplan (CCMP) which “seeks to bring new life into the heart of the city with a revitalised, pedestrian-priority Queen Street. …
Weekly Roundup – 03-July-2020
Here’s our weekly roundup of some of the things that caught my attention this week. Why does Auckland Transport hate pedestrians so much?
During lockdown one of the changes Auckland Transport belatedly made was to set the pedestrian crossings on many intersections to automatic, avoiding the need to push the beg buttons.…
The Power of Disruption
Image: CICLOVÍAS EMERGENTES Lineamientos de Implementación – Gobierno de la Ciudad de México
Good leaders seek ways to change what needs to be changed. And for climate, safety and equity, there is much that needs to be changed.
One powerful, democratic tool to enable change, is disruption.…
Innovating Streets Round 1 Outcomes – Auckland “Falls Short”
Back in April the Waka Kotahi NZTA launched a fantastic initiative, a $7+ million pilot fund for tactical urbanism called Innovating Streets for People. The agency invited councils around the country to apply and would provide financial (90% of costs), organisational and technical support for tactical urbanism projects.…
From Ugly Car Parks to Loved Buildings
Guest post from Brendon Harre that although Christchurch focused, raises New Zealand wide questions of importance, such as, inner-city car parking policy and how to rebuild extensively damaged city centres.
Christchurch’s earthquake damaged city exposes many underlying urbanism lessons. Minimising land wastage on car parking is one lesson.…
Weekly Roundup – 12-June-2020
Perhaps it’s because we’re back to Level 1 but there’s a lot to cover this week. Commercial Bay opens
Commercial Bay finally opened yesterday, over four year after the old Downtown Mall closed and of course with a couple of rail tunnels running underneath it.…
Processing...