A finished Quay St and Te Wānanga. Photo / Supplied
A finished Quay St and Te Wānanga. Photo / Supplied
Today Auckland Council and Eke Panuku are proud to release a video illustrating how far the city centre has come in its planned 20-year transformation.
The video shows how the delivery of the City Centre Masterplan is proving to be much more than the sum of its parts.
It providesperspective on why these 4.3 square kilometres of Auckland play a pivotal role in the economic health of New Zealand.
Auckland mayor Phil Goff says the video shows an efficient, connected, vibrant, liveable city centre, primed for recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
"Central Auckland has undergone a massive transformation over the past decade — and there is much more to come," he says.
"The Wynyard Quarter, once an industrial area mostly closed to the public, is now a stunning public space with parks and attractions, new apartments and spaces for people to walk and enjoy the views over the Waitematā.
"Nearby, new spaces such as Te Komititanga, the public square outside Britomart; Te Wānanga, the stunning coastal shelf over the Waitematā; the new ferry terminal; and the upgraded and pedestrianised Quay Street have helped create a downtown waterfront that is vibrant, attractive and accessible," he says.
"And this is just the start. We are extending our successful waterfront vision through the city centre, transforming areas such as Queen Street and Aotea to match the vibrancy and accessibility of our downtown precinct. The City Rail Link when open will make it much easier to get into and around central Auckland, spurring new development and investment and further increasing the vitality of our city centre.
"Auckland has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, but we are continuing our investment to make our city centre a fantastic place for Aucklanders to enjoy and — once our borders reopen — a global and national destination for tourism, business and investment, arts and culture and much more."
In March 2020, before the shock of Covid-19, an Infometrics chart showed Auckland's city centre accounted for 7.1 per cent of New Zealand's GDP.
Annual economic growth in the city centre was 5.3 per cent compared with 2.8 per cent in the national economy, averaged over the previous decade.
That economic growth has been hit hard by multiple lockdowns, with Marketview data indicating the decline in spending could be as high as 90 per cent in alert level 4 and 85 per cent in the earlier form of alert level 3 in the city centre.
Fiona Knox, Eke Panuku priority location director waterfront, says: "Over the coming years the development of the Wynyard Quarter will continue to take shape. What has been achieved over the past 10 years is impressive and has been well received by locals and visitors alike, but we're not finished yet.
A finished Quay St and Te Wānanga. Photo / Supplied
"Eke Panuku and our partners will continue to work hard to transform Wynyard Point into one of the most beautiful parks in Tāmaki Makaurau, one which is uniquely perched on the edge of Te Waitematā. Mana whenua culture will be woven into the fabric of our future development, and we will continue to create an accessible, people friendly waterfront for all to enjoy."
Aucklanders are encouraged to watch the video and see the future of Auckland unfold.
See how Wynyard Quarter has evolved from an industrial port into a well-loved place for people to live, work, relax and play. Discover what's next for Wynyard Quarter with the proposed development of Wynyard Point, including the largest inner-city park of scale to be created in the past 100 years.
Celebrate the transformation of the city's coveted north-facing waterfront. Te Wānanga encourages a deeper understanding and appreciation of the relationship between the land and the sea, brought to a much-acclaimed collaborative design by mana whenua, Auckland Council and Auckland Transport.
And the ferry basin's new terminal Te Ngau o Horotiu and Albert St's new bus interchange provide better transit connections for the city.
Visualise the City Rail Link delivering a world-class public transport network as Britomart becomes a two-way station with trains running efficiently in both directions.
Discover how a regenerated midtown will attract residential and commercial developments, creating new jobs and new housing options for a growing population, while fulfilling its promise as the arts heartbeat of the city.
And imagine travelling on the City Rail Link to the now upgraded Karangahape Rd, with separated cycleways, wider footpaths and dedicated bus lanes. Thousands of people will arrive at Karangahape Station every day and experience a seamless transition.
It's an exciting future for Aucklanders to look forward to.
