4 - Making it Happen

The New Zealand Urban Design Protocol is more than just a vision and a statement of principles. It seeks to make a real difference to the quality of New Zealand's towns and cities through concerted action by all key stakeholders. Making it happen involves action by signatories to the Protocol, leadership by government, and raising awareness of the value of quality urban design across New Zealand and across all sectors.

Signatories to the Protocol

Organisations from across central government, local government, the private sector, educational institutes, professional bodies and other sector groups will become signatories, and make a commitment to promote quality urban design. These organisations should represent many of our major towns and cities, infrastructure providers, key decision-makers and influencers. Their commitment will make a significant difference.

However, the pool of organisations working towards quality towns and cities needs to grow. We need commitment from local governments that represent our smaller towns, from all government departments and crown entities, and from all professional groups involved in the design of our towns and cities. There will be a concerted effort to gain commitments from all these groups and from across New Zealand.

You and your organisation can help make a difference by committing to quality urban design and the implementation of this Protocol.

Actions to implement the Protocol

Each signatory will commit to put the Protocol into effect by developing, monitoring and reporting a set of actions specific to their organisation. These actions will be agreed within six months of signing up and reported to the Ministry for the Environment. They will change the way key organisations manage our towns and cities and will ensure that the commitment to quality urban design is carried out throughout their organisation.

An 'Action Pack' has been developed that provides examples of potential actions organisations might take to implement the Urban Design Protocol (see Appendix 2). Separate examples are provided for local government, central government and developers and investors. There is potential for action across all aspects of an organisation's activities, from strategy development to decision-making to research and staff training. Example actions are grouped in categories that reflect this including:

championing urban design and raising awareness
develo ping strategy and policy
forward planning
being a good client
making decisions
exchanging information and research
integrating management
building capacity
monitoring and evaluation.

Leadership by government

Central government has already made a commitment to support the implementation of the Protocol through:

providing leadership through a strong government commitment to the Protocol and its implementation by government departments and Crown entities
declaring 2005 as the Year of the Built Environment in New Zealand, to raise awareness of the built environment and quality urban design through a collaborative celebration by government, industry, professional groups, sector and community groups
developing, organising and promoting a national awards scheme for quality urban design (starting in 2005), to promote good practice and raise awareness
investigating the desirability of legislative change to support the implementation of quality urban design in New Zealand
supporting the implementation of the Protocol by:
- working directly with government, the private sector and professional groups to raise awareness and increase sign-up
- continuing to develop a resource base for professionals and decision-makers to improve the application of urban design principles in New Zealand
- continuing to raise awareness of urban design in the wider community and particularly smaller towns in New Zealand through an engagement strategy that includes publicity and targeted publications
- developing best practice urban design guidelines for government departments.

Resources to support implementation

The final Protocol will include a number of resources to support the implementation of the Protocol and to facilitate actions by other organisations to create quality urban design. These resources include case studies of quality urban design in New Zealand, a menu of tools that can be used to create quality urban design, and a summary of current urban design research in New Zealand. Public and private sector organisations, professionals in all design disciplines (eg, planning, engineering, architecture, landscape architecture and surveying), and community groups can all use these resources.

Urban Design Toolkit - the Toolkit will provide a compendium of tools and mechanisms that can be used to create quality urban design. It will include a set of common terms to describe the tools and processes, outline their purpose, their advantages and disadvantages, give examples of where they have been used in New Zealand, and provide links to further information.
Urban Design Case Studies - the Case Studies will provide examples of quality urban design practice and outcomes. They will come from a range of locations and land uses throughout New Zealand. Each case study will be analysed against urban design principles, the value added by urban design, and the lessons learnt from the design process. These case studies will show how urban design has been implemented in practice, and its benefits.
Summary of Urban Design Research - this summarises current research in New Zealand on urban design or issues related to the form and function of urban environments. It includes research being undertaken by central and local government, tertiary education institutions, private consultants and other service providers.

Raising awareness of the value of quality urban design

Increasing the awareness of quality urban design and demonstrating its value is critical to achieving buy-in from the wider community and changing people's perceptions. To support the final Urban Design Protocol a 'Value Case' will be developed. The Value Case will present a rationale and evidence for the link between quality urban design and economic, social, environmental and cultural value. It will demonstrate that urban design adds value at the site and city-wide scales. Qualitative and quantitative examples and scenarios will show the contribution that quality urban design makes to successful towns and cities. These examples will include case studies from New Zealand. The Value Case will be particularly relevant to property investors and developers, to key decision makers and to those who have a major influence on the built environment.

Monitoring and evaluation

Each signatory will commit to monitoring and reporting on the implementation of their specific set of implementation actions. The Ministry for the Environment has also committed to monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Protocol at the national level, and to providing an annual progress report. This will track:

implementation of actions across New Zealand
awareness of urban design
key changes to urban design processes over time.

You and your organisation can help make a difference by committing to quality urban design and the implementation of this Protocol.

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