Transport solution in denser housing

Half a million Aucklanders could be living in high-density, multi-unit housing close to public transport corridors, arterial roads and town centres by 2050.

The aim is to get more people using public transport, bringing some relief to the clogged roading network.

That will mean a quarter of the expected 2050 population of two million living in high-density housing. The region's present population is 1.3 million.

Put another way - between now and 2050, Auckland will need another 320,000 homes, according to the Auckland Regional Council.

A major battle will be to convince Aucklanders - accustomed to angst over leaky buildings and some recent apartment developments which look like future candidates for slum clearance - that user-friendly, high-density, quality urban design is possible.

The main road and rail corridors, arterial routes and a total of 51 centres are being proposed for high- density development. Working out the detail in each case is likely to involve extensive argument, consultation and appeals - all costing money.

All seven Auckland city or district councils and the Auckland Regional Council are involved.

They have been encouraged by the Government which insists that in tune with its extra $1.62 billion for Auckland transport that the region's transport and land-use plans must be better aligned.

The density required to support public transport in these corridor areas is planned to be from 40 to 60 dwellings a hectare, compared with an average of 10 in areas with conventional old Auckland suburban housing and up to 15 for suburban houses on small lots.

Town-planning rule changes providing for such developments are open for public submissions across the Auckland region.

Q: How will 500,000 Aucklanders wind up living close to public transport?

A: The proposed concept sees intensive urban growth focused around sub-regional centres (10), town centres (41), major transport corridors and arterial routes.

The argument is that more intense settlement will benefit the transport system and that overseas experience shows that implementing rapid transit in the form of heavy rail, light rail or dedicated busways can help development within high-density centres and corridors.

The plan is growth-focussed in more intensive "mixed use" centres along the northern, western and southern transport corridors (bus and/or rail), as well as near main arterial roads.

Not all the developments in the list may eventuate. Noel Reardon, the ARC's manager regional development says that if people in Otahuhu, for example, decided they did not want intense development, then it might not happen.

Q: What are these "centres" exactly?

A: They are not the whole centre as we may now view them. A town centre area, for example, is defined as being within a 400m to 800m radius of the town centre focus (a five to 10 minute walk). For a sub-regional centre, the dense housing could be within an 800m radius catchment, or within a 10-minute walk.

The densities being advanced as sufficient to properly support public transport range from 30 to 60 dwellings a hectare.

The idea is that many people will find it desirable being close to activities, shops, cafes and work and prefer not to have the responsibility for a large garden.

Major employment development (or redevelopment) is seen for a number of existing and new areas, including Albany, East Tamaki, Sylvia Park, Mt Wellington and the central area of Auckland City.

Q: What is wrong with some existing housing developments?

A: A proportion of recent housing, townhouse and apartment developments in the Auckland region have attracted criticism for a variety of faults. Some intensification has led to poorly located and poor quality developments. Often they have limited privacy and lack diversity in both design and in unit size.

Where residential development is mixed in with other uses it is essential to have measures to protect the pleasantness of the surroundings, making sure, for example, that residents have noise protection and, says the Auckland Regional Council, "access to sufficient daylight and sunlight."

Q: What is the present take on infill housing?

A: Infill housing in suburban Auckland has been taking place for many years, amid opposition. The scale of infill has produced more dense housing.

For instance, areas of Auckland with houses on large sections have about 10 houses to the hectare. A suburban house on a small lot means about 15 to the hectare, townhouses can mean 15 to 20 and terraced houses 25 to 30.

The regional council says the scattered infill method does not provide enough support for public transport, or allow it to be run in a "cost-effective" manner. In other words, many people living in infill housing still drive cars to work.

Even by 2050, when 500,000 people may be living in dense housing near transport, there will still be 70 per cent of the expected population of two million living at lower densities.

Q: Will the planned changes succeed?

A: At the moment the proposals for so much dense development have the air of a town planning wish list. Creating such developments as safe, attractive, convenient places to live looms as a formidable challenge, given the recent record.

But it is acknowledged that such sound planning is critical if the idea is to have a chance.

But some things are being done already. Manukau City, for example is planning the Flat Bush area as a new area for 40,000 people with a raft of ideas for varying housing densities and careful design of housing, town and village centres. Auckland City is also showing keen interest in better planning and expanding the Urban Design Panel it introduced two years ago to assess large-scale developments.

The Manukau exercise, over land which it mostly owns, has raised questions about how involved a council should get in the minute detail of planning, or whether it is a council's job instead to guide others.

The challenges of dense housing even run to such things as unit titles. The regional council has suggested the Government revise the Unit Title Act 1972, for example, to make sure that multi-unit housing run by bodies corporate are well managed and maintained in the long term.

The old Auckland
10 dwellings a hectare

The new Auckland
40 to 60 dwellings a hectare

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