Auckland, have a heart

Photo / Doug Sherring

Auckland's central city has always turned its back on the people.

Built on the pristine Waitemata Harbour, the CBD is known better for its ugly architecture and a befuddled roading network than glorious sea promenades.

The prevailing notion over the past 50 years has been that Auckland's city centre is for cars, not people.

And, at the end of the day, the worker drones get in their cars and drive out of the CBD to shop in Newmarket, dine in Parnell, bar-hop in Ponsonby, and then go home to their families in the suburbs.

Now, that's changing.

Recently Auckland's city centre has been evolving to welcome the people back. More residents are moving into inner-city apartments. More and more roads are being turned into paved, people-friendly "shared spaces". It's been a long time coming. After all, Shakespeare once said, "What is the city but the people?"

Auckland Council's urban design manager Ludo Campbell-Reid is the man tasked with making this change happen.

"If you compare Auckland with Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver, Paris, London, New York - what defines those cities is a great heart."

Auckland's heart, he said, "is a little bit sick".

But, in recent years, the heart has slowly been renewed.

One of the most telling signs is the transformation of Queen St. From a four-lane, 50km/h death trap designed to scare people away, Queen St's paved, expanded footpaths now invite people to spend their time and money on our golden mile.

Aotea Square is another success story. It used to be home to thugs, bums and pigeons; used more as a lavatory than a place to eat lunch.

Several years and tens of millions of dollars later, it's a place where people actually want to come and spend their lunch breaks.

Of course, plans for a $3 million screen there have been canned, amid revelations it wouldn't be ready in time for the World Cup, and complaints from neighbouring apartment owners about the potential for noise.

But that hasn't hindered Auckland mayor Len Brown's plan to turn Auckland into the world's most liveable city.

"Making the central city an environment that is as welcoming for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users as it is for motorists is an important part of turning Auckland into the world's most liveable city," says Brown.

"That's why I have supported the work being done on shared spaces throughout the city such as Darby, Elliott, Lorne and Fort Sts, which are turning into great places."

He's also pleased to see the development on the waterfront from Wynyard Quarter to all the work done on Queens Wharf.

Although the wharf's party centre, The Cloud (or Slug, depending on who you talk to) has divided opinion across the country, there's no denying the waterfront plays a huge part in opening the city up to the people.

Former Waitakere mayor Bob Harvey is now chair of the Waterfront Development Agency. It's his job to transform Auckland's neglected waterfront into something people actually can - and want to - use.

The waterfront, he says, "adds flavour and richness to a city".

Over the next two months 60 per cent of current waterfront development will be completed, Harvey says. "What Aucklanders will see is how close they are - within easy walking distance from Queen St."

One of the biggest success stories of Auckland's transformation is Britomart.

Although retail leases on the ground level of the precinct's new Ernst & Young-Westpac building have slowed lately, Britomart has changed the area from crusty Oriental markets to a precinct of award winning bars and restaurants.

Cooper and Company owns and developed the site.

Chief executive Matthew Cockram said the whole project was geared towards creating a "campus-style" environment to attract people.

"The big part is creating fantastic public spaces."

When the city bought the land in the 1990s to build a transport centre the district plan was changed to prevent "massive 20-30 storey buildings" being constructed on the site.

"What we've found is there's a lot more interest in what happens at ground-level."

Having public space is really important, he adds.

"It doesn't have to be big. It's important you have the place to play and you're not going to be collected by a vehicle."

It can't come soon enough. The Rugby World Cup is less than 100 days away, thrusting Auckland's city centre on to the world's stage. Maybe it's just the shock we needed to jolt Auckland's sickly heart into life.