Shanmugam Kangatharan
Title
Creating effective public transport network while also developing attractive coastal communities via designing new water-borne transport node in Auckland.
Question
How can Auckland significantly increase the water-borne share of public transport, while also developing attractive coastal communities at the nodes of water transport network?
Abstract
Transport infrastructure networks play a vital role in urban growth. Due to this reason, from the 1840’s, the transport network and roads have decided the urban growth of Auckland (Auckland Council, 2012). Auckland is the biggest and fastest growing city in New Zealand. The major controversies of Auckland, however, are poor transport networks and traffic congestion. This is why Auckland is currently placed as 10th most liveable city in the world by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Auckland only scored 92.7 points for infrastructure while it was scoring 100 points for education, 95.7 points for healthcare, 97 points for culture and environment (Ryan, 2014).
Auckland is also surrounded by water and according to Toy (1977) water is a great asset for urban development. Auckland Transport (2013) indicates that it is necessary to rethink the future of Auckland’s ferry services. In particular, the fare structure and ownership of ferry services. It is undeniable that current water transport facilities of Auckland are insufficient. At the same time other public transport networks including bus and train also have poor linkages in peri-urban areas.
Transport infrastructure can also be studied as a network consisting of nodes and edges. Different types of transport can be represented as different networks with specific properties.
Thus, the aim of this project to enhance the development of the Auckland transport network through further development of water transport with Browns Bay as case study. It means, add more nodes by designing ferry terminals to connect existing transport nodes by new edges. Moreover, finding suitable ferry terminal location for selected site, through appropriate analysis and designing an attractive urban area in selected site are also part of this project.
The project will take into consideration of stakeholders’ current and proposed plans and policies as well as contemporary ideas, concepts and theories that are concerned with the relationships between urban growth and transport infrastructure, and that study of infrastructure is based on network viewpoints.
Shasha Li (Nemo)
In the 21st century, chronic diseases are the most significant cause of mortality around world, accounting for 60-percent of all deaths (World Health Organization, 2015). Being overweight or obese has been a major factor in a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. According to the 2012-2013 New Zealand Health Survey (Ministry of Health, 2013), approximately 31% of adults, and 11% of children are obese, and a further 22% of children are considered overweight. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (Joel, Denise & Ian, 2014) reported that landscape architecture design that aimed to improved bike and pedestrian networks and focus on mixed-use development could increase leisure-time activity and weight loss simply by increasing accessibility to physical activities, walking trails, playgrounds and parks. A successful application of this is the design of Burnaby’s off-street bicycle network, which permitted bicyclists to utilitse both sides of the street, and therefore easily access a wide range of parklands and central city spaces. While the conditions in Auckland are different than in Burnaby, there are lessons to be drawn from Bunaby’s success. The present study focuses on improving Auckland’s bicycle and pedestrain networks, through an analyse of Auckland’s urban landscape features and urban traffic network, to find opportunities to better connect Auckland’s open spaces.
Kevin Zhu
How can we design a GIS based tool to objectively evaluate Auckland brownfield redevelopment sites?
Housing plays a major role in a growing city, as it needs to find ways to accommodate its growing population. During a period of 30 years, the population of Auckland increased from 0.87 million to 1.44 million; dwellings increased from 289,000 to 500,000. This expanded urban settlement that’s uses almost 20000 hectares of productive land is called Greenfield development.
Research Objectives:
• Assess brownfield sites in Auckland and set a ranking for its potential for redevelopment.
• Rate a potential site and identify its redevelopment opportunities and obstacles.
Living along the coast: building green defences to mitigate
negative effects of coastal erosion in Auckland
Qianlin Luo ID: 1437303
Abstract
Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process, it is a critical part of the natural character of the dynamic coastal environment. However, with rapid urban development, coastal settlements are often allowed to sprawl along the coast in order to get better sea views. In many cases so far, buildings have been constructed close to coastal edges where they were originally natural buffer zones, such as low-lying dunes. When there is not enough room left to accommodate the change, coastal erosion becomes a problem which is regarded as a big risk for the coastal settlements and adjacent infrastructures.
Auckland has around 3702 km of coastline (“Auckland,” 2016). “Almost the entire length of the Auckland coastline is susceptible to coastal erosion, although the extent and level of risk vary” (Auckland Regional Council, 2006, p.1). A range of different and engineering-relevant techniques have been developed and utilized by civil and structural engineers to prevent coastal erosion in Auckland, such as building seawalls, groynes and re-sanding. These measures indeed work to some extent in some places, however, the side-effects of those are becoming more and more evident as time goes by. After giving a general introduction about the drawbacks of engineering methods which are commonly used in Auckland, in this project, I will investigate how the landscape strategies can be used to mitigate the coastal erosion in sensitive areas. The outcome of this project is to achieve the goal of allowing the coastline to develop in a resilient and sustainable way and meanwhile mitigating the coastal erosion.
My research focus is beach erosion of the Auckland Region. Orewa Beach, which has suffered from coastal erosion for a long time, is the research site of my project. The study is developed under the basis of Ecological Urbanism that suggests designs should work with nature not work against it.
I started by reviewing the excellent case studies and environment-friendly techniques which are both relevant to my project throughout the world in order to achieve the final goal in my research. After studying these works and analyzing the specific states of the site, adaptive strategies including protect, accommodate and retreat will be separately applied to this project on the basis of compartmentalization concept. Some newly-created natural buffer zones along the coastal edge will effectively reduce the coastal hazard such as coastal erosion and create a resilient coastline for the future.
To test this proposition, I use sustainability comprised of ecological, social, economic and culture aspects as the criterion for judging whether these design work can achieve the final goal of this project. Through this research, I identify that landscape strategies can be used as a sustainable way for reducing the risk of coastal hazard. The design shows much more respect for the land where people live and people’s feeling towards coasts.
Kael
My research question is how to make coastline in Auckland more accessible to public? The aim of project is to deal with this issue in different types of coastal areas and make coastline and foreshore more accessible to the public. there will be an introduction at first which introduce some limitations to get access to the coastline, some problems and debates in New Zealand. Then there will be methods includes case study, classify different types of coastal area in Auckland, choose a site as example and my own design to deal with the issue.
Riyasp Bhandari
Using the sustainability framework to develop social spaces on urban waterfronts.
The human domestication of landscape and environment has remained a prominent area of urban and environmental discourse over the past century. Contemporary urban waterfronts reflect and constitute changes in urban ecology, economic regulation and societal issues under the influence of coastal cities (Bunce & Desfor, 2007). The urban sustainability framework articulates the relationship between humans and the environment and needs to remain at the heart of urban discourse. This project explores the positive and negative impacts on Auckland’s waterfront, further understanding the values of cultural shifts, trade, productivity, transportation, social cohesion and ecology in the urban realm. This project will comparatively critique, analyse and assess urban waterfronts, through a set of criteria drawn from literature relating to sustainable cities. The scope of Auckland’s waterfront can be re-imagined through design ingenuity to support a sustainability framework that aims to further enrich natural systems in relation to enhancing human well-being (Wu, 2014).
Zara Jawadi
Project title: Urban Retrofitting
ABSTRACT
The global population is projected to rise to 9.6 billion by 2050, with upward of 70% expected to move into urban areas (Atiya, 2013). Economic geography further suggests that the pressure to expand and availability of cheap land at the urban fringe leads to urban sprawl (Taylor, 1996). Like many major urban centres, Auckland faces problems related to urban sprawl, such as acute traffic congestion leading to unsustainable land use. (Jamieson, 2007) Shifting attention from new land development to retrofitting existing marginal spaces within the urban limits holds tremendous potential to rethink Auckland’s urban development. With focus on the development of remnant spaces in Auckland city this project establishes a series of strategies to create a networked infrastructure to support ecosystem health, thriving social communities, and economic opportunities. Particular attention is given to transport corridors that intersect with major residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the city. The public transport system is explored as a tool for directing the future growth of Auckland.
Shoujun Chen
How can we create a model for the radical transformation of an industrial food system into a locally-based, sustainable model in peri-urban areas, Auckland?
Peri-urban agriculture is the production units close to town, which operate intensive semi- or fully commercial farms to grow vegetable and other commercial crop. Today the industrial food system in Auckland has to meet the pressure from climate change and urban sprawl. Auckland Council report has found that nearly 10 percent (8.3%) of the best quality land has been converted from food-producing land to urban developments in recent times. Soil erosion, subdivision, water depletion and pollution have brought a growing public awareness of the social, environmental economic impacts of industrial agriculture. On the other hand, peri-urban agriculture has its unique competitiveness due to its closeness to food and labor market. Farm markets have emerged as an alternative option for distribution and retailing, which leads to the increasing demand for small scale farming land in peri-urban areas.
The design based on permaculture theory, green belt and agrarian urbanism, through transforming agricultural land and residential area in peri-urban areas to a farming-centered residential areas. The purpose of this research is to find out the way to build a sustainable agricultural system in peri-urban areas.
Sravani Khambhampati
The Sustainable Landscape/City in Auckland NZ
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
How can the urban cities help in developing the neighboring peri-urban area?
How can we reduce the growing carbon footprint of new urban development (India) through preservation of existing groundwater, flora and fauna?
How can we save the existing landscape in urban development and make use out of it for aesthetic pleasure?
How do we inculcate landscape architecture into upcoming construction?
How can a developer be persuaded to install low maintenance landscape?
How can the provision of green space in Andhra Pradesh be based on ecological principles?
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The new state is developing occurring like Malaysian Town and Singapore Town which are just copies of eastern development pneumatic urbanism and have nothing endogenous representing our environment, heritage and culture. Ultimately because of this they will be unsustainable.
My reason for choosing this particular field for research stems from having witnessed massive changes in the natural environment around my home. Being aware of the adverse results of damaging the natural landscape of a place with reckless abandon, I wish to make a contribution towards helping prevent said damage without causing a dent in the development of my country.
HOW TO SOLVE IT?
Which landscape architects/ architects have developed ideas and techniques the methodology to ensure an environmentally sustainable model for new urban development?
The path I propose to take for arriving at solutions to the above problem is to learn as much as I can about both contemporary methods of landscape architecture, and urban development. Based on research via extensive case-studies of contemporary landscape architecture (both sustainable and otherwise), I intend to contribute towards developing methods of sustainable landscape. The end result of my project would be to arrive at more sustainable alternatives to the traditional methods of landscape architecture, while not compromising on real estate value. Further, I wish to explore methods of landscape architecture which could be more affordable, while not compromising on aesthetics or sustainability
Komal Bhatt
How can a Cemetery function as a place of ‘Healing’ for the many cultural groups in Auckland?
Cemeteries play a vital role in all cities not only as a space for the dead to be placed, but also for the living to visit and remember their loved ones. Can cemetery landscapes act as a means of healing in the grief process? The loss of a loved one causes sorrow, grief, and mourning, shock and pain – a most difficult and lonely phase of one’s life.
People visit cemeteries to remember, pay homage and revitalize old memories in connection with the dead. Due to globalization, multiculturalism has brought with it a mix of death customs and traditions of mourning that play a pivotal role in the healing process from grief.
Cultural and religious groups from around the world have different beliefs about death and the afterlife. In India, particularly Hindus cremate the dead by burning the body at a very high temperature and the cremated remains are immersed in the holy river Ganga. As the dead are not buried there are no cemeteries which can serve as reminders and touchstones for the living to remember people and events. This motivated me to think about relation between man and environment which can be established through the means of landscaping.
The purpose of this research proposal is to gain an understanding the death rituals of various cultural groups and accordingly developing strategies and designing a cemetery that can act as a healing space. The psychological behavior on losing a loved one can vary dramatically from person to person and the duration of grieving process can also range dramatically. A study needs to be conducted that will define ecological and social design objectives which emphatically will reflect values from different cultures for development of cemeteries.
With the pace of urbanization, green field sites and even for that matter existing cemeteries are destroyed or re-located. This shows what kind of importance or respect we give the dead. The development of a cemetery will also create an open space and green graveyard adding to the ecological diversity and natural habitat of the area. With a focus on diverse mourning practices, the guidelines will incorporate therapeutic goals and suggest ecological solutions which will address the negative impacts of death on environment.
NGUYEN THIEN NGAN
Vertical Village in the heart of CBD
Auckland CBD area has been focused to be leading New Zealand’s business and economic development. The initiation of building projects ,which mostly occupied for commercial and residential purposes, is growing progressively in Auckland CBD area .Due to high migration net flows and blooming of business activities in Auckland CBD, these building projects appears to be essential in order to capture the society demand and also adapt the population growth.Traffic congestion therefore becomes a high burden on the residents who must commute to and from work in Auckland CBD, especially on Queen Street. It has affected the employee commuting issue and also their productivity. A large number of organizations also support their employees by providing flexible workplace to adapt the trend of business process.With many people now working longer hours, it has become increasingly important for their work to fit in around other commitments, family and a social life. The flexible time has to be offered by all employers if a worker can provide a good case for it, but with the increase in enabling technologies, mobile devices, the traditional office is becoming superfluous as increasingly remote worker and home working becomes ever more realisable. Therefore, the project is about to bring back the principles of Model Village in a smaller scale and also use the ideas of Office-tel concept into the same building design, based in Auckland CBD. The scheme is envisioned as hybrid programs that does not only combine office spaces and compact residential units. The self-contained building design does not only encourages communication between neighbours, strengthening the sense of community but it also provides fully amenities and public areas within the building.
Andrea Murray
Red Zone Land Use
When urban residential land is deemed uninhabitable after a natural or political disaster, a master plan will be more robust using a nonlinear multi layered design methodology .
