[An abbreviated report about the New Zealand Planning Institute Annual Conference that I attended in May this year]
Ken Tremaine contended that central government
remains in silos. He lamented that we never do enough global comparisons nor
steal enough good ideas from others.
NZ needs to rise above the “we have no
money therefore can’t think.” mentality that pervades decision-making. Central Government has the best intentions yet
these are based on opinions, not evidence.
Community plans should be at a new neighbourhood
level
Neighbourhood plans recognise people are
passionate about where they live. It has become important to mobilise
this passion for place – to use this force for
change. Planners need to expect the
unexpected as communities design what suits them best.
Business as usual is
untenable
What is required is transitional and even
transformative governance. Our current
models simply are not good enough.
We are more than ever building in higher
risk environments, basically putting more in harms way. NZ does great natural hazard research, BUT
not enough, not consistent and not up to date.
Communicating risk: What does a 1 in a
100-year event really mean? Risks change over time. No one else in the world has land
insurance. NZ is the 2nd most
insured country in the world. Christchurch has changed the landscape of insurance.
We need to identify who pays, how and
when. At what
stage do we learn to live with risk?
The way forward: Don’t allow development in the wrong
place and don’t allow intensification of development that is in the wrong
place.
Collaboration and communication are increasingly important. Local politicians need to be involved with
people on the ground.
CBD
is becoming an out of date term, we need to rename our Inner City.
In an age of out of town malls and internet
shopping we need to ask ourselves "what are town centres for?"
Can or should they be dominated by shopping or should they re-imagine themselves to serve a cultural, entertainment and social
purpose?
There will be a reduction of space required for retail in cities. (UK retail space
down 27% in the past few years, now residential.)
It is a citizenship model not a customer
model. We must raise expectations of our
inner city spaces. We have plenty, there is just nothing to do or see in these places.
There is NO silver bullet. Retail is no longer
driven by profit and price now experience and service.
All
roads lead to roads
We have
given the design of our cities to traffic engineers, who have no idea they are
responsible for it.
We need to ‘put roads on a diet’. Provide for
more cycling.
Copenhagen, Vancouver. These cities have proven
that if you build safe cycle lanes they will be used. It’s about amenity not the weather.
A lot of
people are trying to cling to an old way of life, trying to solve 2013 problems
with solutions based in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Papa Pounamu the Principles of Co- Management.
Benefits of co-management can be quicker and
cheaper. Moving away from litigation
to more collaboration. Iwi have a desire to be more proactive and less reactive. Iwi want to be at the table not just
‘consulted’.
Consultation = informing, telling it how it is. This is no longer good enough. Communities are asking for more involvement
earlier.
Summary
I enjoyed the conference and the key themes
addressed.
- · Change is happening; we must look forward for solutions and stop hanging on to the past.
- · Stop putting homes in harms way, as insurance may be harder to get if we do.
- · Communities want to co-create not just be consulted, neighbourhoods rule!
- · Share our data, really work collaboratively towards a common goal.
- · Put roads on a diet, in and around cities.
- · Cycling is here to stay and the first cities that really embrace inner city cycling and prioritize it will be those that thrive and grow.
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