New Urbanist intervention in Onehunga : a transport centre

Abstract

RESEARCH QUESTIONS: 1) How can New Urbanism design ideas benefit the suburb of Onehunga? How can these ideas be applied in my design brief?

2) How has the suburb of Onehunga developed over the past century? How do District and Regional authorities believe the suburb will change over the next decade? How can this information help assist me in making a positive contribution to the suburb of Onehunga?

3) What is a suitable and appropriate system of public transport for the area? How does this area sit inside the wider Auckland community in relation to existing public transport systems and its location?

New Urbanism is a rapidly developing urban design movement. The movement proposes the development of “mixed-use” communities that are based around pedestrian and public transportation initiatives. New Urbanism has been very successful in the American developments of “Seaside” Florida by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater Zyberk (DPZ), and the redevelopment of “Stapleton International Airport” in Denver, Colorado by Forest City Enterprises. This project challenges and tests the application of New Urbanism based design techniques in a New Zealand environment. The Auckland suburb of Onehunga is currently subject to many large scale council driven developments. This project is aimed at integrating with the existing council driven projects such as the “Reopen Onehunga Rail Project” which proposes a long term objective of Onehunga becoming a public transport interchange in the wider Auckland community. A second long term Council objective is the development of “mixed-use” housing/retail and residential “densification” in the town centre of Onehunga. These two key future objectives coincide within some of the primary ambitions of New Urbanism theory. The “New Urbanist” development includes the detailed analysis of the suburb with regard to its transportation issues, residential/commercial and industrial layout, public buildings and amenities such as schools/parks and community buildings. The project attempts to address both urban and architectural issues. It involves the detailed planning and allocation of functions for new/existing buildings and public space over the wider suburb. The main architectural entities to be designed are a new public transport centre with subsidiary apartment buildings and a main public square. The investigation provides a complex analysis/example of how New Urbanist design techniques could be applied in the existing Auckland community of Onehunga integrating with the existing Council objectives of “Transport Orientated Development” (TOD) and the “densification” of the community centre.