When new neighbourhoods are being conceived in suburbs around the world, saving residents precious time and making the environment pleasant and liveable are top priority for planners.
Like Helsinki, in Finland, where integrated features such as shared spaces, architectural design, retail and walkability combine to allow residents an hour of extra free time a day – an important principle in master planned neighbourhoods there.
That kind of community goal is evident in New Zealand too, as with the Northcote Development on Auckland’s North Shore which is also aiming for timesaving and liveability advances. Over the next five years the development, led by *Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, will provide 1500 new homes and three new pocket parks as well as upgraded streets.
A greenway and close connections to where people live, work, learn and play will deliver those goals, says Kate Cumberpatch, Panuku’s priority location director for the north. Auckland Council’s Panuku works closely with Kāinga Ora on developments around the city and will help provide the 1.5km greenway – one of the key time-saving and environmental .
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Called Te Ara Awataha, the 1.5km greenway will connect housing to the town centre, sports fields and green spaces, plus re-establishing a meandering stream residents will be able to enjoy.
There are plans for another 700 Panuku homes to be built within the Northcote town centre and Cumberpatch says they – combined with Kāinga Ora homes already built and under way – mean there will be a lot more people livingin the community, increasing the need for what she calls “ease of living”.
With such a big influx of people, she says, a safe and attractive environment is important – from healthy homes to green spaces to play in and proximity where “pretty much everything residents will need to be at their fingertips in Northcote”.
The greenway will be a time saver and good for the environment – allowing people to easily walk to the sports fields and stream, cutting down the need for cars. This long green space, an integral part of the overall plan for Northcote, will stretch from a new pocket park put in by Kāinga Ora at Richardson Ave, will travel past two schools, the town centre and Greenslade Reserve, finishing at Tonar Street.
“It will be a 1.5 km stretch of walkways, cycleways, reserves, playing fields and places to stop,” says Cumberpatch.
There’s even an outdoor classroom planned near the schools which will allow students outdoor learning and a connection to nature and there are plans to “daylight” the Awataha Stream, which currently runs through a pipe underground.
“We can’t run [the stream] for the whole 1.5km but we’re daylighting it in large portions. It’s pretty cool. It’s just won an award for local government projects.”
The greenway will mean children will be able to walk from school to the town centre to home with ease.
“There’s a definite connection to where people work, learn and play – and having all those things in a reachable space,” says Cumberpatch. “Northcote’s got that in spades, really, especially with its closeness to the CBD and the main transport connections and cycling facilities.”
Planning also included making sure the town centre, which will be renewed in coming years, will have what people need for day-to-day living, like supermarkets and access to fresh food, plus other types of retail along with community facilities. Already within the town centre, for example, are dentists, doctors, a pharmacy, a Labtests, a library, a Plunket and a Citizens Advice Bureau.
Like Helsinki, an important part of the process for both Kāinga Ora and Panuku is feedback on what people want on their doorstep, Cumberpatch says. Some feedback is being worked into the plans, such as a desire for more shared spaces and improved facilities for already well-used areas.
For example, in the library on any one day you might find elderly men playing mahjong alongside an English lesson, children’s activities and a knitting class, she says.
Part of the charm of the Northcote development will also be the ease with which residents will be able to navigate their new community.
“The Kāinga Ora development is connected to the town centre through the greenway so that becomes really easy.”
*Kāinga Ora’s urban development arm started life as HLC, the masterplanner of Hobsonville Point.
- This content was supplied by Kāinga Ora
