Urban design framework

Designing great places for our people

Table of contents | Foreword | Introduction | The issues for Auckland | Urban design goals for Auckland | Implementation | Appendix

Urban design goals for Auckland

If the city is to respond to these issues from an urban design perspective, Auckland must become:

1. A more distinctive city which reflects its tangata whenua, Maori, Pacific and multicultural identity and is visibly recognised as a place of the South Pacific.
2. A more compact city containing high-quality, compact, walkable, mixed-use environments that help reduce the need to travel long distances for everyday tasks.
3. A more connected city where people have a choice of transport options that are comfortable, convenient, efficient and affordable.
4. A more sustainable city where land use, the natural environment and the built form lead the way to a more sustainable city.
5. A more beautiful city where the design of our buildings and spaces (including ordinary, everyday spaces) contribute to creating beautiful places worthy of the truly unique and stunning city that is Auckland.
6. A more human city where our built environment is much more respectful of people and how we experience the city - giving people more priority over cars.

These six interconnected goals set the urban design framework for achieving Auckland City Council's vision of First City of the Pacific. They will influence and guide the council's strategy.

Each of the goals contains a number of key urban design objectives. The following pages set out how each of these objectives specifically relates to and influences each of the council's six outwardly focused strategic themes. These themes are transport choices, quality natural environment, lifestyle choices, quality built environment, strong communities and economic opportunities.

Goal 1 - Becoming a more distinctive city

In order for Auckland to achieve the status of First City of the Pacific, it needs to celebrate and reinforce its unique points of difference. Encouraging and nurturing the creative industries through the provision of a high-quality built environment that is stimulating to work and live in will be one of the most powerful tools at our disposal to enhance the city's distinctiveness and competitive advantage.

Similarly, Auckland must also fully embrace its Maori heritage, bicultural foundations, current tangata whenua aspirations and place in the South Pacific.

It must progressively reflect these dimensions in its urban landscapes and built environments through uncovering, reinstating and interpreting sites of cultural significance. We all have a part to play in creating opportunities for a living tangata whenua, Maori and Pacific presence.

The urban design response is aspiring to become a more distinctive city which:

• reflects its tangata whenua, Maori, Pacific and multicultural identity and is visibly recognised as a place of the South Pacific
• is different to anywhere else with respect to its people, heritage and setting
• celebrates its natural point of difference in terms of nurturing creative industries
• protects and promotes its natural features and built heritage
• uncovers and celebrates past layers of settlement and meaning - such as the foreshore, headlands and significant trees
• seeks opportunities to promote a living tangata whenua presence in the city.

Urban design objectives

New houses sympathetic to character home, Freemans Bay. Photo courtesy of Matt Riley.

In order to move towards a more distinctive city, Auckland City Council will:

Objective 1.1
ensure that new development respects and protects distinctive landforms, key views, built heritage, water bodies and indigenous plants, animals and ecosystems

Objective 1.2
support and promote internal and external educational programmes that will advance knowledge and understanding of Auckland's unique bicultural and Pacific heritage, together with its multicultural future

Objective 1.3
conduct audits of Auckland's cultural and built heritage and natural features, to ensure their protection, preservation, reinstatement and/or enhancement as required

Objective 1.4
encourage significant new public and private projects to reflect Auckland's unique bicultural heritage

Objective 1.5
develop creative quarters with exciting and vibrant environments, in order to attract and retain highly skilled workers and businesses.

Goal 2 - Becoming a more compact city

The development of high-quality, compact, walkable, mixed-use neighbourhoods and town centres is fundamental to the creation of a compact city. While the city as a whole cannot become any smaller or larger than our current geographical limits, we can ensure that our city's neighbourhoods become more compact in form and uses are located closer together.

This means providing a wider range of housing types and prices at greater densities, together with a greater mix of uses and more employment opportunities within each neighbourhood, so that the need to travel long distances for everyday tasks is reduced. Design quality is a key issue and the challenge for our city is to create these higher density compact neighbourhoods while maintaining and raising the quality of how they feel and function.

Higher densities and compact form does not have to mean high-rise or town cramming. Even places with three and four storey buildings can provide the intense richness that makes them attractive to live in and to visit. European cities manage this in abundance.

The urban design response is aspiring to become a more compact city where:

• town and neighbourhood centres become thriving, vibrant, mixed-use centres - where walking is an attractive option
• people have a choice of living environments
• high-quality design allows people to enjoy high life quality within intensified neighbourhoods
• attractive public open spaces will compensate for the reduction in access to private open space that will occur with intensification over time
• access exists to a range of services, activities and transport options - from a thriving CBD and higher density town centres, to more traditional suburban areas.

Benefits of a more compact form of development include:

• more efficient use of land
• preservation of open space and healthier living
• the opportunity for greater housing choice
• the ability to provide more affordable housing
• supporting public transport services
• supporting retail, employment and recreation activities near housing - reducing the need to travel
• reducing traffic congestion, travel time and vehicle emissions
• reducing infrastructure costs
• reducing household travel costs.

If the city is to respond to these issues from an urban design perspective, Auckland must become:

1. A more distinctive city which reflects its tangata whenua, Maori, Pacific and multicultural identity and is visibly recognised as a place of the South Pacific.
2. A more compact city containing high-quality, compact, walk able, mixed-use environments that help reduce the need to travel long distances for everyday tasks.
3. A more connected city where people have a choice of transport options that are comfortable, convenient, efficient and affordable.
4. A more sustainable city where land uses the natural environment, connections and the built form lead the way to a more sustainable city.

Urban design objectives

In order to move towards a more compact city, Auckland City Council will:

Objective 2.1
promote an increase in density and intensity of use, in and close to urban centres and along major public transportation corridors - to offer maximum support for public transport

Objective 2.2
develop high-quality, lively and attractive mixed-use neighbourhoods that contain a range of uses including conveniently located shops, places to work, community and leisure facilities - all within close proximity, to allow convenient access via means other than the private car

Objective 2.3
raise expectations and standards of design and construction quality, to ensure higher density developments contribute positively to the creation of high-quality places

Objective 2.4
guard against inefficient use of land for inappropriate low-density development in key strategic locations

Objective 2.5
deliver high-quality streets and other public spaces, to provide the recreational opportunities that will increasingly substitute for private space in the intensified city.

Goal 3 - Becoming a more connected city

Getting around in Auckland has become more difficult with walking and cycling not considered to be very attractive options.

The ability to move around easily has huge implications on the quality of our lives. Good connections between the places we need to go to can save us time and money, improve our health and minimise the impact on our environment. Providing improved connections and access between places (particularly in the areas of public transport, cycling and walking between places) is therefore vital to the wellbeing of our city.

This can be achieved through:

• providing new and improved public transport routes
• reducing the size of urban blocks to make walking easier
• improving accessibility in the city through the design of roads and streets, to encourage alternative modes of travel
• concentrating land uses and neighbourhood facilities to allow people to visit more than one destination with one trip.

The urban design response is aspiring to become a more connected city where there are:

• a wide range of transport options, including high-quality, accessible public transport combined with safe, convenient walking and cycling routes
• direct, connected and appealing streets, cycling and pedestrian routes that exhibit high levels of natural surveillance and accessibility
• local services, shopping, employment areas, recreational facilities and open spaces located in places that are accessible to all - regardless of culture, age, income or disabilities.

Urban design objectives

In order to move towards a more connected city, Auckland City Council will:

Objective 3.1
advocate for a significantly improved public transport system (particularly rail provision) to improve connections and choice and to help regain public space

Objective 3.2
provide convenient crossing points across major roads or railway lines, to connect desire lines between key origins and destinations

Objective 3.3
encourage and help facilitate the creation of new connections through larger urban blocks and green linkages, to improve accessibility around the city - particularly by walking

Objective 3.4
ensure that all new developments and buildings are designed with pedestrian safety and accessibility as key factors - maximising natural surveillance of public areas and routes, while providing clear and logical entrances.

An example of an attractive public transport system that regains public space and uses land more efficiently. Melbourne, Australia. Photo courtesy of Knut Pinto-Delas.

Goal 4 - Becoming a more sustainable city

Sustainability is not just about environmental concerns. Our future would be uncertain if we simply provide more green or energy efficient buildings, but fail to provide healthy communities in terms of social, economic and cultural wellbeing.

We therefore have to consider the full effects of our developments on our environment - not just how they perform in terms of use of energy and materials, but also how they affect our lifestyle, travel patterns and communities.

This means finding intelligent ways to accommodate growth that use our resources wisely and reduce our impact on the environment while helping to create healthy and sustainable communities. However, while urban design cannot tackle all of these, it can influence the way our land uses are located in relation to each other. This is a major influence on how we use the city and the effect that we have on our environment. We must also be aware of the consequences of climate change and the effect this could have on our city through issues such as rising sea levels.

The urban design response is aspiring to become a more sustainable city where:

• the urban form and pattern of land use encourages more sustainable behaviour that minimises the impact of our lives on our environment
• buildings are fit for purpose, affordable and durable
• building and open space design and servicing infrastructure uses the very best of "green" technology
• the intrinsic value of our landscape and ecological systems is respected and enhanced.

Urban design objectives

In order to move towards a more sustainable city, Auckland City Council will:

Objective 4.1
ensure that all new developments (including buildings, open spaces, public realm and streetscapes) are designed to be more environmentally sustainable in terms of their function, design, construction, resource use, and long-term management - responding to Auckland's unique climate in particular with respect to sun/shade, stormwater run-off, water and ecological systems

Objective 4.2
advocate for the provision of a greater range of house types, tenures and affordable housing units within any new major residential development - to create more socially balanced and equitable communities

Objective 4.3
promote longer-lasting buildings that are adaptable and can more adequately respond to changing social, technological, environmental and economic conditions

Objective 4.4
raise awareness of best practice sustainability and urban design principles to demonstrate the wider benefits for individuals, communities and the city as a whole.

Goal 5 - Becoming a more beautiful city

Auckland has a stunning and truly unique setting - the Hauraki Gulf, two harbours, volcanic cones with many beaches, natural bush and mountains within easy reach. It is has to be one of the most beautiful locations for a city in the world.

However, it is a commonly expressed view that its built environment does not live up to this setting. While there are some parts of Auckland that are valued for their character and beauty, many areas are compromised by inappropriate and sub-standard developments - with poor quality buildings that are visibly cheap or ugly and fail to reflect the beauty that is Auckland.

Beauty is a common expectation of monumental buildings or "special" places within the city. However, these make up a very small proportion of the whole city. The "ordinary" environment (the places and buildings which people occupy on a daily basis and which make up the greatest proportion of the city) should also reflect our distinctive and beautiful natural landscape.

The urban design response is aspiring to become a more beautiful city:

• where the design of our spaces and buildings (including ordinary, everyday parts of the city) create beautiful places worthy of our natural inheritance
• known for its excellent architecture, which draws its inspiration from our unique setting
• which celebrates its Maori, Pacific and multicultural identity
• which treats public art as an integral component of the urban environment.

Urban design objectives

In order to move towards a more beautiful city, Auckland City Council will:

Objective 5.1
encourage the design of prominent buildings in our CBD and town centres to embody distinctive, high-quality architecture; and public buildings to set a high benchmark in civic, uniquely-Auckland design that works for Aucklanders

Objective 5.2
control the quality of all buildings that require consent (including ordinary, everyday buildings) to ensure that they respond appropriately to their context and contribute to the visual quality of their setting

Objective 5.3
encourage the use of design competitions or design assessment processes for all major projects in order to raise design quality

Objective 5.4
ensure that all public infrastructure and public space (including arcades, through-site links, streets, footpaths, motorways, railways, associated bridges and structures) are designed as attractive elements in the urban landscape

Objective 5.5
include public art as a basic component of any street and public space upgrade in our CBD and town centres. Encourage large-scale private developments to contribute towards the provision of public art

Objective 5.6
encourage the use of high-quality soft landscape both on and around buildings in order to create a greener and more beautiful city.

Goal 6 - Becoming a more human city

Reversing the psychology - people first, then cars

Auckland has an amazing sense of place and cultural history that is about people and how they have interacted with the landscape.

Our built environment can help us reconnect with this history and enjoy our fabulous city on a personal level. However, unlike some of the great international cities, the pedestrian is not yet fully valued as the social, economic and environmental powerhouse of the city. Instead, the car is still perceived by many as this and subsequently the feel, the form and the design of parts of the city tends to reinforce this (for instance; overly wide road reserves, long waiting times for pedestrians at signalled crossings and overly generous radii at street corners).

The urban design response is aspiring to become a more human city where:

• the focus is on people and pedestrians - not the private motor vehicle
• people are encouraged to walk around without feeling intimidated by traffic
• high-quality, creative and exciting urban environments create places where people want to live, work and visit - encouraging people to stop and enjoy great spaces and places
• public spaces and transport modes that are attractive and work effectively for all in society including young, disabled and elderly people are promoted.

Urban design objectives

In order to move towards a more human city, Auckland City Council will:

Objective 6.1
change the priority of streets and spaces through improved and more sensitive design, so that the pedestrian is given greater priority over the private car

Objective 6.2
improve the design quality of streets to help them become social spaces for communities - where they are not treated solely as movement corridors but rather as three-dimensional spaces framed by buildings, trees and other elements

Objective 6.3
control and improve the quality of all buildings (including ordinary, everyday buildings) to ensure that their design is more respectful of people

Objective 6.4
ensure that those parts of buildings that people experience at close range or low speed are detailed to provide a sense of human scale and visual richness.

Published January 2008