Auckland’s City Centre Masterplan, the visionary document to guide the city centre’s development for the next 20 years, is now accessible to all via a new digital platform.
The masterplan, which was endorsed by Auckland Council’s Planning Committee in March, sets out a vision for a greener, safer, and better-connected city centre that celebrates our unique Māori identity.
Councillor Chris Darby, Planning Committee Chair acknowledged the changes COVID-19 is having on our city centre and the way we view street space.
“The adoption and digitisation of the City Centre Masterplan comes at a time when we are more focused on how our streets can function to allow people to physically distance. Being able to move around the city safely is a focus for those that live and work in the city centre.
“During Alert Level 4 Aucklanders have enjoyed having more space to walk and cycle and it’s given us a glimpse of what it’s like to have streets focused on the wellbeing and safety of people.”
Of the 542 Aucklanders who submitted feedback during public consultation, 76 per cent supported the overall direction of the masterplan. The most frequently mentioned theme was the masterplan’s direction towards greater pedestrian friendliness in the city centre.
Tim Fitzpatrick, City Centre Design Manager at Auckland Council said he is proud of the work they have done with the City Centre Masterplan and said the plan has proved very useful in formulating Auckland Council and Auckland Transport’s COVID-19 response.
“The extensive work on the City Centre Masterplan and its access planning has been invaluable in allowing us to roll out an emergency response that ensures physical distancing can be maintained on Queen St in COVID-19 Alert Level 3.
“Although this work is temporary it will give us an opportunity to move seamlessly from streets designed for physical distancing during COVID-19, to streets that reflect our City Centre Masterplan and the vision to reallocate more street space for people.”
Councillor Pippa Coom says the digital plan gives people a fantastic preview of what our city could look like following the City Centre Masterplan.
“The online plan is easy to navigate with exceptional visuals showing exciting opportunities for the city we want Auckland to be, including plans for the revitalisation of long-neglected areas such as Grafton Gully and realising the full potential of the waterfront.”
The City Centre Masterplan presents a collaborative vision. This refresh of the original 2012 plan has been developed in close collaboration with independent membership organisations representing city centre residents, businesses, transport and the environment, through a programme of targeted engagement.
The city centre vision will be achieved through several city centre projects and those that are already underway can be seen on Progress AKL
