Planning urban potential
Vision and bravery will make Auckland grow into a world-beating city.
If you wonder how fabulously Auckland might develop with the help of its Unitary Plan, take a trip up Mt Wellington.
From the top of the volcanic cone, take in the sweeping 360-degree panorama of volcanoes, isthmus, harbours, islands, rivers, streams and distant bush-clad hills. It is one of the most beautiful city settings in the world.
Look down to the east to the Tamaki Estuary, a playground of beaches and waterfront parks. To the north, at the Glen Innes end of the district, the Tamaki Regeneration Company, a joint venture between council and government, is already building quickly, high quality and attractive compact housing.
Look south to Panmure, rich in almost-forgotten but crucial moments in our history. Such as when invading Ngapuhi massacred some 1000 Ngati Paoa at the Mokoia Pa in 1821.
Between the lagoon and the cone lie two symbols of Panmure now and in the future. Queens Rd belies its grand name. Its long strip of mainly rundown buildings suggests 1960s vitality long faded.
To the west, just past the notoriously hazardous Panmure roundabout, is the new train/bus station, tangible proof of fastimproving public transport.
This splendid part of Auckland – rich in history, nature and potential – will be one of the most intensively developed under the city’s proposed Unitary Plan released on Wednesday.
The plan, drawing on deep research and extensive submissions, articulates a comprehensive framework to enable the city to grow fast and well.
Inevitably, the response of citizens will run the gamut from great enthusiasm to deep despair. For many people, their hostility intensifies the closer the city’s development comes to their homes.
If they want encouragement about the benefits of progress, though, they should talk with the residents of New Lynn. They are one of the communities that have eagerly embraced growth.
Their new train/bus station and library, redeveloped shopping centre and new apartment buildings have brought great life to their town centre.
Between now and August 19 Auckland’s councillors have to make far-reaching decisions about the Unitary Plan.
The nimbys seem oblivious to the fact Auckland is less dense than Los Angeles. In their opposition, they are prepared to turn Auckland into an even more dysfunctional city rather than help to create a better one.
The best way to build support for progress is to help people fulfil the ambitions they have for themselves and their city.
The Plan is not perfect – no plan could ever be so. The removal of pre-1944 heritage protection, the loss of cultural and integrated transport assessments for consents, and the failure to add more rigorous energy efficiency and design standards could lead to developments that degrade rather than enhance the city’s builtenvironment.
Such worries would fade if Aucklanders develop a strong pride of place and a great ambition to play to their city’s distinctive attributes. Then they would create a uniquely New Zealand expression of urban life, one worthy of international acclaim.
Architects, urban designers, engineers, landscape architects, artists, construction companies and material suppliers, developers and investors also need to massively lift their games to help Aucklanders bring the Plan to life.
To succeed, the Plan also needs above all a radical rethink by the Government and Opposition. They need to park their hodge-podge of incomplete and ineffectual remedies for Auckland’s growth crisis.
Instead, they have to support the city with long-term, bipartisan policies on infrastructure, transport, finance, housing affordability, capital gains, urban development, environmental protection and other critical drivers of progress.
Then Auckland will fulfil its great potential.
Auckland’s Unitary Plan is not perfect – no plan could ever be so.