Area plans - City centre
The city centre is Auckland's premier business location, a centre for education, research and development, and is home to a growing residential community. It is the most popular destination for Aucklanders and visitors in the region for cultural and social events. The city centre has a wealth of heritage buildings and parks, a working waterfront with increasing public access and recreational attractions, and a strong retail and dining offering. With the highest density urban environment in the county, the key to its future success will be to continue to intensify this area and provide a strong heart for the wider region.
Into the future...
The city centre area plan sets out the outcomes that the council wants to see happen in the city between now and 2050. Some of the main ones are…
- protecting heritage values including natural, historic landscape, archaeological and built heritage with strong management tools that manage the impacts of intensification
- ensuring integration with the city centre fringe suburbs in terms of heritage, intensification, open space, land-uses, transport and network connections
- achieving high quality urban design through well-planned and managed development for a diverse mix of uses
- adopting a 'quarter plan' approach to respond to local conditions and aspirations
- supporting concentrations of business, education, residential, waterfront and other activities or/and qualities such as heritage through the development of quarter plans
- managing intensification that is responsive to sensitive environments such as heritage, views or open space
- increasing the quantity, quality and safety of public open space (including new open spaces in Wynyard Quarter, Queens Wharf and Captain Cook Wharf
- creating waterfront development and intensity that is responsive to its economic function, public space, recreational and event facilities, water's edge access and transport role (ferries and cruise ships), business and residential activities
- developing a strong pedestrian focus with walking a priority and improvement in safety, efficiency and amenity
- continuing streetscape upgrades and improve walking connections to major attractions such as the waterfront
- improving safety and access for cycles between the city centre and citywide network and key destinations
- improving passenger transport quality and reliability for all modes (rail, bus, ferry, light rail/tram) with new and improved infrastructure, new networks, stations and interchanges
- improving vehicle access and reduce through-traffic (including port traffic) by completing the motorway network - Victoria Park Tunnel, Grafton Gully - Port connection
- advocating for an additional harbour tunnel crossing for rail and vehicles.