Darby Street.

Auckland Council has released a video of the Darby St. Shared Space launch that I went to in April. I have blogged about the launch and you can view it here. I walked around the CBD yesterday and I'm glad to see people using the Darby St. shared space. The benches were occupied by groups of people who were casually hanging out and talking. Fort St. is almost finished and progress is happening in Elliot St. too. This is a good start for Auckland's urban environment.

Now, here is the video of the Shared Space:

From the video, you can see how much people attended the launch and how people welcomed Auckland's first shared space.

I am in this video and you can see me in 2:35.

Upgraded bus service.

At the start of May, the Northern Express Bus service was said to be upgraded and improved by Auckland Transport. There are more buses and the times have been extended too. The changes include:

• Buses will now leave Britomart at midnight on week nights
• Buses from Albany to Britomart will go until 2:30am on weekends and 11:30pm on weeknights.
• Services will start earlier in weekday mornings and the frequency will increase to one every three minutes from Albany between 7-8am on school days. It used to be every four to five minutes.
• Bus service from Britomart will increase too between 5pm-6pm except school holidays.
• The 5-minute Northern Express bus service will start earlier each afternoon at 3pm to lessen queues.
• The first bus of the day will leave at 5:30am instead of 5:45.
• Buses will run every 15 minutes from Albany at 6:30am, then it will be changed into every 5 minutes up until the three-minute service at 7am.

The changes were due to rising complaints about long queues and overcrowding of the Northern Express Bus service.

Source: New Zealand Herald.

The popular Northern Express bus service from the North Shore to the city.
Source: Google Images.

I have seen a difference in bus frequencies and the service has definitely improved. From the past weeks, I haven't experienced the long queue in Britomart that I usually end up in on Fridays. There are more buses available and they are not overcrowded with passengers. It's about time the service has caught up with the demand.

Road Diet.

Streetfilms is a wonderful website full of videos on transport design. Their aim is to have better and liveable streets that everyone can enjoy. They have videos for bikes, cars, public space, pedestrians and a lot more. I ask you to check it out as you'll see a lot of interesting short films.

One that has caught my attention is Road Dieting. It is the process of making roads work better by removing lanes. It is better for pedestrians and cyclists and it also controls traffic more efficiently.

Watch the video and see for yourself:

Moving Beyond the Automobile: Road Diets from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Do you think road dieting can be applied in Auckland?
I reckon it would be beneficial to cyclists and pedestrians but implementing this in Auckland (with the hard-headed car-dependent people) might be harder.

Another one from Streetfilms is the Complete Streets. Complete streets incorporates bike lanes, pedestrians and public transport into the streets of the city instead of just cars. People feel safer cycling and crossing the roads due to the transformation. Here is the video:

Complete Streets: It's About More Than Just Bike Lanes from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Most of my overseas examples are from New York. I think they are really trying hard to transform New York City's urban environment. Slowly, they are putting pedestrians first and encouraging more people to use their bikes and ride public transport. Initiatives from NY are great examples and I think Auckland should learn from these. If they can turn their urban environments around from car-centric to a more pedestrian-friendly area, maybe we can too.

Promoting exercise and fitness in parks and reserves.

PlayRope exercise machines in my neighbourhood reserve
Photo taken by myself.

I'm going off topic a bit in this post but I just want to share a great project in my neighbourhood. It has been established for a year already but I like this so much that I want to blog about it. I don't live in Auckland's highly urbanised environment (such as the CBD) and I live in the suburbs in the North Shore. There are many pros and cons of living in the suburbs. Long commutes and not being close to shops are some but I do like living in a more peaceful environment. Also, you don't get to see this in the parks/reserves in the city.

Since last year, my daily afternoon/early night walks have been better due to these exercise machines by PlayRope. There are 4 machines in total and they are all fun to use. This reserve is a popular walkway of dog walkers and runners alike but since the establishment of these machines, more people stop for a few minutes try them out. I think it is a really good initiative to get people moving and it promotes fitness too. You might just be passing by on your walk, but seeing these may entice you of doing a few more exercises. I sure did!

Here are more photos of the machines and what they do:

The Station. It works out your legs, arms, chest and abdominal muscles.
Photo taken by myself.

The Leg Press. It aims to strengthen the leg muscles.
Photo taken by myself.

The Twister. It is for training the lateral stomach, haunch and hip muscles.
Photo taken by myself.

The Airwalker. It improves coordination and fitness and emphasises on leg muscles.
Photo taken by myself.

These exercise equipments are a great addition to my neighbourhood reserve. I have seen these equipments around parks in the North Shore too but I am unsure if there are any in other parts of Auckland. I have seen a lot more people going through this reserve just to use the machines. They all have information attached to each equipment stating the instructions and what it does to the body.

Taking advantage of what is being offered.
Photos taken by myself and Lewis Apperley.

The best part is that it is free for all. Who needs a gym membership if you have this in your backyard? I know the comparison isn't the same level but this is better than nothing.

Ideas for the New City.

I discovered Urban Omnibus which is an online project of Architectural League in New York. Their mission is to create a new conversation about design and of NY City. They consult architects, planners, designers, artists and citizens to create a better understanding of cities and how they could be more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful.

One of their projects was the 50 Ideas for the New City. They made it for New York City but it can be a showcase and model for other cities around the world too. I find the list very interesting and each number links to another feature related to the topic (more interesting articles/examples on how to achieve each item).

Here are the their ideas of what cities should be doing:

1. Combat Climate Change by adapting our existing building stock.
2. Support the Arts through asset-building.
3. Capture the energy of people going about their day.
4. Make a small difference in a community you know.
5. Map everything.
6. Use temporary structures to offer amenities to underserved communities.
7. Design for generational diversity.
8. Look for excess capacity everywhere and put it to good use.
9. Listen to you ecosystem
10. Support a diverse economy.
11. Enliven schools to engage children.
12. 
    

Article here.

  13.  Let the city tell you its stories.

  14.  Use theatre to investigate issues of neighbourhood change and development.

  15.  Look at the city through the lens of food.

  16.  Make rules and regulations easy to understand.

  17.  Take care of nature wherever nature is found.

  18.  Encourage the private sector to create public amenities.

  19.  Use natural systems to support the city's infrastructure.

  20   Reconsider where, how and with whom we work.

  21.  Harness renewable energy from tides, not just the sun and the wind.

  22.  Use the city as a classroom.

  23.  Make our city's systems visible to increase understanding of how they work.

  24.  Make subdivisions safe and legal. (as subdivided dwellings in NY are illegal)

  25.  Play with implications of computing embedded in nearly every aspect of daily life.

  26.  Involve city's newest resident.

  27.  Celebrate and activate the city's ecology.

  28.  See city as a software.

  29.  Coordinate like-minded, small-scale initiatives to activate otherwise isolated efforts.

  30.  Create ways for businesses to share space and resources.

  31.  Consider public transport options beyond road and rail.

  32.  Look closely at the diversity of building types we have in the city.

  33.  Learn from the geological material beneath your feet.

  34.  Design recreation space by watching how people play.

  35.  Connect web talent with city governments.

  36.  Stop sewer overflow with creative preventive design.

  37.  

Article here.

  38.  Ask citizens how they want to improve their cities.

  39.  Allow accidents to happen.

  40.  Think beyond shelter to help the homeless.

  41.  Let citizens engage in the maintenance of infrastructure.

  42.  Think of wandering and observing the city's streets as an art form.

  43.  Create easy ways for people to share cab rides.

  44.  Turn toxic land into agriculturally productive lots.

  45.  Share, discuss and tweak proposed works of public art, architecture and urban design.

  46.  Celebrate the urban beauty overlooked.

  47.  Make fire hydrants the anchors of temporary mini-parks.

  48.  Learn from the unbuilt city.

  49.  Interrogate your assumptions about what sustainability means.

  50.  Invite everyone to share good ideas for the future of cities.

While some ideas are more specific to New York, I think Auckland can still get a few ideas from this list. The goal for Auckland is to be a globally competitive city. In order to do so, we need to look at what other global cities are doing. New York is a very popular city that has great examples and we can definitely learn a few tips.

The Auckland Supercity a bad idea?

Super City is not working - deputy mayor

By Simon Collins

5:30 AM Friday May 13, 2011

1. Share
3. Email
4. Print

Auckland Council deputy mayor Penny Hulse.Photo / Richard Robinson

The deputy mayor of the new Auckland Super City says the $200 million reform of the region's local government is not working for communities.

Penny Hulse, the former Waitakere deputy mayor, told a public meeting in Waitakere yesterday that the Government was now repeating "the worst mistakes that have been made with the Super City" in a plan to centralise Auckland's civil and Family Court services.

"The Super City is expensive, it's unwieldy, it's unfriendly to communities," she said. "To take that model and impose it on something as sensitive as the Family Court is just senseless."

City Bike Day.

Photo source: Auckland Council

If you have a bike and has a passion for cycling join the City Bike Day on May12th 2011.

Participants will get a free breakfast, safety packs and gears. There is also a competition where you can get free high quality cycling gear such as jackets, cycling lights and vouchers.

What are you waiting for? Get your bike on and join the rest on May 12 at Aotea Square!

This event is free for all. If you want to know more, check out the Auckland Council website here.

A future project?

What High St. could look like if pedestrianised.
Photo source: Eyeonauckland

I discovered the EyeonAuckland website today and in their iWish section is this photo of High St if it is pedestrianised. The post stated:

High Street is currently one of the most unattractive places for people to walk and spend time in, the pavements are barely a meter wide in some places and 90% of the street is used by trades-people and for parking.

High Street has the potential to be the most sought after street for people to mingle, shop and play in but as it stands people find it extremely uncomfortable to walk and people don’t want to hang around there. As a result the shops and restaurants are suffering.

I agree with the statement as I walk through High St. to and from Uni. The footpaths are tiny and uneven. The streetscape of High St. isn't appealing and the parked cars on both sides of the road makes the street seem smaller and even claustrophobic. I like the artist impression of what it could look like if it becomes pedestrianised. I think the Auckland Council should look into transforming High St. in lieu of their current Shared Spaces projects.

If you want to get this project noticed by the Council, help Eyeonauckland by sending an email to Shale Chambers of the Auckland Council (shale.chambers@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz).
As the author said on her concluding statement: Together, we can make a difference.