So yesterday I was talking to someone who was interesting in the fact that I am studying planning and that I want to be a town planner. Whenever I have this conversation with people they immediately ask if I am going to fix Auckland and make it a better city (because lets face it, it doesn't really work at the moment because of how sprawled out it is). It got me thinking, I always say I won't fix Auckland because I really have no intention of staying here when I finish university because it is a planners nightmare.
While I was talking to this girl I was wondering HOW they could ever really fix Auckland without bulldozing it and starting again. I found this quote from IPP that states:
"The way forward requires all of Auckland – government, business, communities and tรคngata whenua, to develop a region that is liveable and prosperous. To do this, we need to build infrastructure and social systems that are resilient and adaptable, and we need to begin to live within the limits of our natural environment. We also need to make sure we provide enough public open space for future generations to enjoy, and to protect important landscapes, especially in coastal areas, and unique plants and animals." (IPP- see website at bottom)
Although this does suggest the general direction Auckland needs to take in order to become a region of greater livability and prosperity, it is suggesting things that seem impossible when we already have infrastructure in place that affects how we can change the networks to make them better. For example, a few years ago there was a proposal for a new transport link to go down Ti Rakau Drive near Pakuranga but to do this they were going to have to purchase and knock down several properties to make the space on the road layout- naturally this did not go down well and so years later still nothing has happened in terms of creating better transport connections.
Auckland has a huge dependency on private transport- our motorways and arterial roads are continuously jammed up and lack in efficiency. I was reading through the Auckland Transport Blogs and found this statement which I think summed up what Auckland should be aiming for.
"Properly integrated land-use and transport planning should result in reduced automobile dependency, it should result in less congestion and greater public transport use and it should result in more sustainable communities." (Auckland Transport Blog. July 2009)
But how do we make this all better and follow suggestions for a more sustainable Auckland when we are already developed? Will we need to bulldoze some properties for the greater good?
I think firstly there must be a shift in attitudes toward intensive development. Combining land-use and transport planning so that they complement each other is one step to improving the city and its functionality. Creating high density development around public transport nodes such as train stations and bus stops will encourage a greater use of public transport as well as make people more connected to areas of the city. Whenever an Aucklander hears 'intensify development' they squirm, a part of what is awesome about living in NZ is the fact that we get to have these big houses on large amounts of land- however these people still complain about how disconnected the city is and how hard it is to get from A to B in your car let alone public transport!
Aucklanders need to open their eyes to realise you cannot have both ways- all the world class cities around the world have extremely dense development in their city centres and even in the outer suburbs there is reasonably intense development- it is only when you go into the countrysides and small towns that you are able to find large houses on big properties. It is this feature that allows a city to function but for Auckland to adopt such an attitude the people need to acknowledge this and decide what they want, a sprawled out city with decent sized properties and houses or a more intensified city with efficient and reliable systems.
References.
Auckland Transport Blog. July 2009
IPP- Key Issues for the Auckland Region.
www.ipp.org.nz/.../Key%20Issues%20for%20the%20Auckland%20Regions.
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