Sustainable Urban Development
Introduction
New Zealand is a highly urbanised nation with 86% of the population living in urban areas, 72% living in the 16 main urban areas, and 33% in the metropolitan Auckland region. Although New Zealand’s heritage lies in rural development, the way we manage our urban environments will be pivotal if we are to secure a sustainable future for this country.
Those responsible for managing the way that urban areas change and develop face a number of challenges and a range or direct and indirect environmental pressures.
The bigger issues that are impacting on New Zealand’s urban environment are outlined in the following sections. Addressing these issues requires innovative and sometimes difficult decisions. This outline also highlights successful approaches to urban development, taken from both local and international examples, and makes links to work being done in New Zealand on some of these issues.
Themes
In the context of sustainable urban development three major themes will be covered:
- What are the forces that will affect the future of New Zealand’s towns and cities?
- What are some of the characteristics of successful and sustainable urban areas?
- How are successful and sustainable cities managed?
Within these themes, we will examine below, a number of pressures, changes, and challenges facing sustainable urban development.
- Forces of change
- Characteristics of sustainable and successful urban areas
- Managing to achieve sustainable and successful urban areas
Last updated: 5 December 2008
