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Urban living is better by design
Nearly 90 per cent of us in New Zealand live in towns and cities and the way these urban areas are designed affects us more than we realise. Urban design impacts on our health, the local economy and the sustainability of our towns and cities.
Charles Johnson was planning manager on a team that transformed
150 hectares of contaminated industrial land in East Perth.
He says urban design is about team work.
According to Charles Johnson, Chief Executive of the City of Wanneroo in Australia, an important part of urban design is the public spaces between buildings – such as parks and streetscapes – and the principles used in creating them.
Johnson was speaking at an event in Wellington during May to celebrate two years of New Zealand’s Urban Design Protocol. He emphasised the need to design towns with local shops and amenities and interconnected streets which encourage people to walk and exercise.
“No one wants to do dumb growth such as car-orientated suburbs, with limited connection in streets and where people have to move away from those communities to get any services or facilities,” said Johnson.
Appreciation of urban design is growing in New Zealand where nearly 130 organisations have signed the Urban Design Protocol, administered by the Ministry for the Environment. Senior Adviser, Yvonne Weeber, said the protocol creates a network for people to share information.
“Signatories can be from big or small organisations, such as the Auckland Regional Council and the Royal Astronomical Society. And each signatory has to have an action plan and an urban design champion. It is their actions that bring the protocol to life,” said Webber.
Public spaces are an
important part
of urban design.
By signing the protocol, design professionals, government agencies, developers and many others have agreed to encourage innovation, make good connections, recognise the character of places, and ensure diversity and environmentally friendly design. These principles can be applied to a metropolitan region, a street or a building.
In May, the Ministry released a new edition of the Urban Design Toolkit, a web-based resource which provides information on how to research, plan and design urban areas and how to encourage community involvement in the process. The kit now has five new planning and design tools and a new health impact assessment tool.
According to Johnson, “Urban design is not the realm of the architect, the planner, the landscape architect or the artist. It’s about working together.”
In New Zealand several councils have adopted urban design panels to help manage growth issues and provide a multi-disciplinary approach to assessing development.
Three years ago the Queenstown Lakes District Council established two urban design panels. Councillor Lou Alfeld, a panel member, said a design review resource was needed to help developers and planners. The panel functions as an advisory group only – it is up to architects and project planners to accept or reject its advice.
“We are careful not to be critical, instead we provide practical advice with reasons. People have said they found the advice influenced the way they think about space, the relationship to the building and the people around it,” Alfeld said.
“Signing the protocol has created a perception among councillors and staff that we have a moral obligation to stick to the principles.”
For more information contact Yvonne Weeber on (04) 439 7564 or Janna Murray on (04) 439 7432 or urban.design@mfe.govt.nz
Photos: Charles Johnson.
