KATHRYN VAN BEEK
  • Blog
  • Pet
    • Pet Podcast
    • Newsroom book launch
  • Bruce the Cat
    • Bruce Goes Outside
    • Bruce Finds A Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press
  • Shop

Height Fright

1/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Height Fright
Height Fright
NIMBYs riot at Designing Auckland, the Auckland Writers Festival session with Sue Evans, Garth Falconer and Patrick Reynolds. 

My elderly doctor was moaning to me about the plans for Auckand’s growth the other day. “I live in Mount Albert,” he said. “It’s lovely there. I don’t want some big block of apartments to go up next to me.” If he hadn’t been about to examine me with something that looked a bit pointy, I might have said, “But you have several children, don’t you? Where did you expect they’d all live when they grew up?”

We all know Auckland’s growing, but which way is it going? Up? Not in my doctor’s back yard. Well what about sideways, to Huntley? Young people will love living out there, right? Our increasing size is also making it harder for us to lumber around. Should we take the bus or the train? Should we ditch the gym and use our bodies (and our bikes) to get from A to B? An acquaintance of mine (just slightly younger than my doctor) viciously demeans public transport use. He spent good money on his urban tractor and he’s going to get around in individualised, air-conditioned comfort or not at all, thank you very much.  

Hundreds of people of a similar demographic (and a handful of young’uns), crowded into the Auckland Writers Festival ‘Designing Auckland’ session on May 16 to gain more insight into Auckland’s design problems - and learn what can be done to solve them. Designer Tommy Honey, who chaired the session, opened with a tongue-in-cheek vision of Auckland in 2040, a time when “there’ll be a tunnel from Devonport to Remuera that terminates in Mike Hosking’s garage,” and “the Unitary Plan consultation is about to close.” 

Tommy then handed over to the panel of experts Sue Evans, Garth Falconer and Patrick Reynolds for their thoughts on Auckland. Sue Evans, Senior Urban Designer at Housing New Zealand, warmed the cockles of the hearts of many of the NIMBYs in the audience by reminiscing about the Auckland of her mother’s childhood - a time when holidays were spent in baches at Browns Bay, people got around on horse-drawn trams and food was produced locally. She contrasted this with the Auckland of today - an unsustainable “energy-hungry beast”. In Sue’s opinion, the way towards a sustainable Auckland is through the ethical choices that each of us make each day. She closed by saying, “We get the city we deserve. We’ve got to be a demanding market. We need a combination of good leadership and powerful citizenship.”

Garth Falconer, Director of Reset Urban Design, gave his vision for Auckland - a city with joined-up public transport and an inclusive public realm, where people can share equally in the bounty of the city. He noted that although some people are clinging to Arcadian, individualised lifestyles, plenty of other people are ready to embrace a more urbane, European approach. 

Patrick Reynolds, urban photographer and Transport Blog contributor, opened by saying, “I want to start by poking you all with a bit of a stick. Aucklanders don’t really believe that we live in a city, or that it could be a good thing. We have a mental block about urbanity in this country - but the trouble with Arcadia is that there are no humans in it.” He went on to say that the dream of each of us living on a quarter acre section with a milk cow, a shed and a car is mathematically impossible, and that being near each other is necessary for social and economic exchange. “Auckland has the potential to be the best urban place on the planet,” Patrick said. “It’s damn hear the right size - there’s enough scale, and we’re also small enough to be nimble. Growth is a problem but it’s also an opportunity. We’re now on a trajectory forward and we need to keep going.” 

Tommy then asked each of the panelists what their one wish for Auckland would be. Garth said that the biggest issue for Auckland is that it’s a divided city. “You can draw a diagonal line between the haves and the haves nots on a map,” he said. “We created South Auckland, and it’s a massive issue that we’ve got to face up to. We’ve got to make the city liveable for all inhabitants.” Patrick added that accessible transport is key to an inclusive city, saying that improved public transport will give better access to education and opportunity. “It also creates spatial efficiencies,” he said. “The City Rail Link is equivalent to 12 lanes of traffic. There’s nothing more spatially efficient than an underground system. We need a fast, efficient, high-volume traffic system with a feeder network of cycleways going to every station. It’s been done all over the world. Our current dependency on cars is expensive, daft and dumb.”

Tommy was next to provoke the audience by bringing up the vexed issue of how to pay for these much-needed improvements. Predictably, this resulted in a lot of mumbling about rates from the audience. Patrick pointed out that rates are microscopic compared to the weekly increases in house valuations. This prompted a lot more grumbling from the audience, which inspired Tommy to jump in with an impassioned rant. “Talk to the generation that’s going to inherit this city, generation zero, and find out what matters to them. Get some perspective people!” 

But by then audience members were rising to their feet and shouting. Luckily the session came to a close before hoards of angry NIMBYs rushed the stage. The audience put on quite a display - but possibly not the display of powerful citizenship that Sue had in mind. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Kathryn van Beek

    Author

    A graduate of UNITEC’s School of Performing and Screen Arts (BA) and Victoria University’s Institute of Modern Letters (MA), Kathryn is a published playwright who has won several Playmarket and Fringe Festival awards.

    An accomplished short story writer, Kathryn is the author of short story collection
    Pet, and the winner of the Mindfood Short Story Competition and the Headland Short Story Prize.

    Kathryn has written several zines, a podcast, a web series, and a number of articles for outlets such as The Spinoff. She has also written and illustrated two children's books about her rescue cat, Bruce. 


    Sign up to receive infrequent but interesting news. 

    Follow Kathryn on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

    I am also hoping to put the power of the pen to good use by advocating for better miscarriage information and support. Click here for details.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    13th Floor
    Actors
    Advocacy
    Alicia Young
    Article
    Auckland Writers Festival
    Author Brand
    Best Of Auckland
    Bologna Children's Book Fair
    Bonsai
    Book
    Book Launch
    Bruce Finds A Home
    Bruce Goes Outside
    Bruce The Cat
    Business Writing
    Cat
    Character
    Child Poverty
    Children's Book
    City Of Literature
    Competition
    Creative Hub
    Creative Writing
    Crowdfunding
    Crowd Funding
    Distribution
    Dunedin City Of Literature
    Dunedin Writers Festival
    Earthskin
    Eketahuna
    Elsewhere
    Emotional Support Animal
    Eramboo Artist Environment
    Famous Cat
    Flash Fiction
    Fresh Ink
    Funding
    Gif
    Glory Days
    Headland
    Housing
    Illustration
    Illustrations
    Infertility
    Intern
    Joyce Carol Oates
    Justin Timberlake
    Karangahape Road
    Kickstarter
    K'Rd
    MasterClass
    Mindfood Magazine
    Miscarriage
    MIsconceptions
    Modern Girl's Guide To Publishing
    Music
    Musical
    National Writers Forum
    North And South
    NZ Herald
    NZ Pacific Studio
    NZSA
    Opera
    Opinion
    Otago Daily Times
    Pet
    Picture Book
    Podcast
    Published
    Publishing
    Reading
    Residency
    Review
    Sargeson Prize
    Script
    Short Story
    Storylines
    Sunday Star Times
    Sunday Star-Times
    Theatre
    Theatreview
    The Highlanders
    The Spinoff
    TV
    Vegetarian
    Video
    Web Series
    Win
    Writing
    Writing Festival
    Zine
    Zinefest

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Blog
  • Pet
    • Pet Podcast
    • Newsroom book launch
  • Bruce the Cat
    • Bruce Goes Outside
    • Bruce Finds A Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Press
  • Shop