Urban design framework

Designing great places for our people

Appendix

Relevant policies, plans and strategies

The urban design framework sits within a context set by a number of higher-level documents at the national, regional and local level. These documents are listed in this appendix. Council documents that have a strong relationship to the delivery of good urban design outcomes are also listed.

New Zealand Urban Design Protocol

Auckland City Council is a signatory to the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol, a national document that:

outlines urban design's importance in New Zealand
describes seven qualities that are essential to creating successful New Zealand towns and cities including context, character, choice, connections, creativity, custodianship and collaboration (referred to as the "seven Cs").

The urban design framework demonstrates Auckland City Council's commitment to this document and interprets the "seven Cs" in an Auckland context.

Auckland Regional Policy Statement

The Auckland Regional Policy Statement sets out the Auckland Regional Council's policy for promoting the sustainable management of natural and physical resources in the region. Proposed "change six" to the statement has introduced a number of urban design-focused strategic policies.

Mayoral Task Force on Urban Design

In May 2005, an urban design task force appointed by the mayor, with members representing key influencers in the built-environment industries, released the report "Designing Auckland: A springboard for action".

The task force called for a "design-led transformation" of Auckland, to which end it identified measures including:

creating memorable places and spaces
being clear about the big picture
rebuilding a can do, design-led council organisation.

The urban design framework is one of many actions Auckland City Council is taking to respond to those clear messages.

Growth management policies

Both the Auckland Regional Council's and Auckland City Council's strategies for growth are based on a "compact city" approach. Key features are that growth will be managed by promoting high-quality, compact urban environments that are linked by public transport and focused around town centres with a variety of housing, jobs, services, business development areas, and recreational and other activities.

The urban design framework contributes to these documents by describing what quality urban living can look and feel like as we manage the change from suburban to urban form.

CBD into the Future strategy

The CBD into the Future strategy is the guiding document for the transformation of Auckland's CBD. It sets out a bold and ambitious vision for the CBD as one of the world's most vibrant and dynamic business and cultural centres. Good urban design is essential to achieving this vision. It will help to create a city centre that is exciting, memorable and prosperous.

Keeping Auckland's Future Bright

Keeping Auckland's Future Bright is the council's sustainability plan. As with the urban design framework, the sustainability plan informs the council's seven strategic themes and contains overarching goals addressing the key challenges for the council and for the city. Following each goal, the plan defines relevant themes, issues and a response in the form of clear targets supported by specific actions which draw together existing work in progress, as well as new or proposed work.

CBD urban design framework

The CBD urban design framework is tailored to the particular urban design context of Auckland's CBD. In contrast to the urban design framework document for Auckland, which sets out high-level urban design goals for the whole city, the CBD urban design framework is place-based and tied to the unique character of our central area.

Places for people, places for nature

As with the urban design framework, "Our Collective Taonga: Places for people, places for nature" is a direction-setting document focused on the future improvement, protection and management of Auckland's open spaces. The directions the document sets down are carried through to six action-oriented plans at various stages of development including:

parks plan
urban forest plan
volcanic landscape plan
streets and town centres plan
Hauraki Gulf islands plan
coasts and beaches plan.

The urban design framework supports the open space framework and its six associated plans by setting out urban design goals for Auckland's urban form that are broadly applicable to the development of our open spaces.

Sense of Place

Auckland City Council's 2001 document Sense of Place sets the context for distinctive elements that can be used to strengthen the city's character and generate a sense of place. It aims to show how a sense of place can be used to create a distinctive, vibrant and mature South Pacific city. It investigates sense of place philosophies and principles relevant to Auckland, and provides guidance on how these can be incorporated into the planning, design and management of public spaces. This design guide is a practical realisation of the urban design framework goals - in particular, becoming a more human, distinctive, sustainable and beautiful city.

Other Auckland City Council documents

The following council documents either have a central relationship to, or are strongly associated with, delivering urban design outcomes.

CBD-focused

Auckland Waterfront Vision 2040
Auckland CBD public activity strategy
Central area access strategy
CBD public art work development plan
CBD public open space plan

Citywide

Arts Agenda
Auckland city events strategy
Blueprint: Growing Auckland's creative industries
Cycle and walking framework
Development with Vision policy
Disability framework for action
Essentially Waiheke
Footpath policy
Kerb and channel policy
Mainstreet policy
Pedestrian lighting guide
Positive Ageing in Auckland
Recreation precincts strategy
Te Aranga - Maori cultural landscape strategy
Youth action policy

See the Plans, policies and reports section to view policies online.

Acknowledgements

We thank these individuals and groups who supported and assisted in the direction and completion of this document.

Peer reviewers: Rau Hoskins, Graham McIndoe, Chris McDonald

Auckland City Council urban design panel: Professor John Hunt, Professor Jenny Dixon, David Mead, Kevin Brewer, Dr Diane Brand, John Dobrowolski, Garth Falconer

Key stakeholders: Auckland Regional Council, Auckland Regional Transport Authority, Transit New Zealand, Ministry for the Environment, The Mayoral Task Force on Urban Design, Ngati Whatua

Published January 2008