The lecture presented at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society at Oxford University, in June 2013, arguing the case for a 'clean, green, and smart' strategy of technological development, and a 'long and flat' strategy of physical development, for New Zealand's largest metropolitan area, Auckland.
1. The Future of the City-Region:
Clean, Green, Smart,
Long and Flat
Presentation to the
Institute for Science, Innovation and Society
Oxford University
20 June 2013
by
Dushko Bogunovich
Assoc Professor of Urban Design
Depts of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
dushko@unitec.ac.nz
11. city - region
culture - nature
• “The term city region has been in use since about
1950 by urbanists, economists and urban planners to
mean a metropolitan area and hinterland…”
13. • The main proposition: that the ‘sustainable city’
paradigm is tired, and needs to be replaced with a
new concept, one that acknowledges the advancing
global environmental change (climate
change+biodiversity decline), as wel as the ever
larger spatial scale of the urban phenomenon >>>
>>> therefore: ‘resilient region’
• inside which, in many cases, is a ‘linear city’
22. The Auckland Plan
..… by pursuing the policy of
urban containment, i.e. by ‘curbing
the sprawl’. The “compact city”
model was adopted: 70% - 30%
split between in-city and out-of-city
development (inside/outside RUBs)
…..
23. The main driver of the spatial strategy:
containment of urban sprawl
Based on the rationale that ‘compact city’ is good because it:
• enhances the social nature of the city;
• stimulates the exchange of ideas > helps the knowledge economy;
• reduces the transport distances > lowers the GHG emissions
The implementation of that plan – via ‘intensification’
29. 70% - 30% split?
(70% inside RUBs, 30% outside RUBs)
Unlikely!
More likely, the reverse: 30% - 70%
30. An Alternative Vision (2012)
• Accepting of the world-wide trend of
simultaneous concentration of population at
the national scale AND dispersion of the
population at the regional scale…
35. The Big Banana
A combination of global trends and
local circumstances is telling us that
a different approach is necessary.
Decentralisation and low density are
driven by powerful forces
(culture, technology) and therefore
inevitable. It is too hard to contain
these trends. And to some
degree, they might be even
desirable…
There is a ‘logic’ in NZ’s northward
population drift…
climate, landscape, connectivity, eco
nomies of scale…
38. Auckland – the bigger picture:
the city > the region > the super-
region…obvious linearity
The reason: the origins of the current
metropolis are in the conurbation that
grew over some 100 years along a single
traffic corridor..
40. Drivers and shapers of future
growth are strong… as the
natural landscape both attracts
and resists further urbanisation
41. The direction of growth is very clear….
…and the overall linearity very pronounced.
42. It is an expanding metropolis, but not really
‘sprawling’…. Auckland is growing in a linear
fashion, in the shape of corridors, rather than
‘carpet sprawl’.
43. Urban sprawl of this
type is extremely
unlikely in Auckland !
44. Also – new, green technologies make it possible to reduce the
suburbs’ heavy energy dependence and massive carbon
footprint. Instead of being insatiable consumers of resources,
the suburbs could become net producers. Self-sufficiency in
food, water, sanitation, stormwater management, power, some
fuel & fibre is a welcome prospect, but this is possible only
when the intensity of development (‘density’) low.
Compact city cannot be
self-sufficient.
45. AN ALTERNATIVE TO A SINGLE COMPACT CITY:
Polycentric development, with a range of densities, and
with excellent connectivity between the nodes.
Retaining a reasonable level of mobility, while building
up resource self-sufficiency.
The peri-urban landscape of Munich
52. T
• The physical geography (‘landscape’) is one
strong driver of the future form…
• The other is the continuing evolution of the
technology of urban infrastructure (IS)…
88. Conclusion
• Auckland 2040 will be a linear city, with a 100 km long ‘infrastructure spine’
running through its middle. On both sides of the spine, there will be suburbs,
with town and suburban centres. The spine itself is like a necklace - a corridor
of fast-transit and other high order infrastructure connects a dozen of city-hubs.
On the spine’s flanks, both along the sea and the land side, are the suburbs,
with various densities. They are endowed with all the local and natural
amenities and supported by a mix of green and technical infrastructure, with
varying degrees of independence/reticulation.
89. Relevance
• The new urban sustainability paradigm sees horizontality as a strength, not a
weakness. It is about a regional approach, smarter use of low density areas,
and hybrid infrastructure. In other words, about creating a symbiotic
relationship between the city and its region; pursuing polycentric
development with multiple densities across the entire region; and an
integrated mix of green, blue and grey infrastructure.
90. Repercussion
• Most of the global urban landscape in the 21st century will be suburban and peri-urban.
However this is not the parasitic suburbia of the 20th century, completely dependent on
urban infrastructure. This is a productive, low-density landscape, consisting of partly
autonomous properties, which are supported by a highly decentralized, ‘smart’, ‘clean’ and
literally green infrastructure.
