An updated masterplan for Auckland

Aucklanders can now visualise how their city centre will look under its refreshed masterplan via a digital platform.

Endorsed by Auckland Council’s planning committee in March, landscape architect Stuart Houghton, from Boffa Miskell, says the revised plan celebrates our Maori heritage, making it a key part of strategic direction.

This map shows the areas of the city centre where proposed activities of Transformational move 1: Maori outcomes, may take place.

“Its much more explicit about the need to see a positive presence and identity for Mana Whenua in the city centre, and a desire for the city to look and feel much more distinctly Tāmaki Makaurau,” says Houghton who was part of the masterplan revision group led by the Auckland Design Office.

Access for Everyone is another key concept. Houghton says it’ll significantly reduce the impact of traffic in the central area, prioritising pedestrians and cyclists and public transport.

The CCMP proposes to expand the city centre eastward and westward, enabling new development and public realm towards the Victoria Quarter and Parnell.

The third focus area is an eastern gateway into the city centre from Grafton. State Highway 16 will run through to Tāmaki Drive as a tree-lined multi-way boulevard to improve connections and access to the port area and eastern suburbs.

The public can explore the masterplan vision in more depth using interactive maps here.

Seventy six percent of Aucklanders have given the updated plan their approval. 

Queen Street sits at the heart of a grid of downtown city blocks. It is the cultural, historical, commercial, professional and retail heart of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland and it is critical to New Zealand's economy.

The CCMP addresses the growth of Queen Street and the wider Waihorotiu / Queen Street Valley. It proposes to make the area more accessible, more attractive and more prosperous, with pedestrian-friendly streets and better connections to the rest of the city centre.

Mayor Phil Goff says the changes will contribute to making Auckland a world-class destination. 

“We want the city centre to be a place where people want to go. It needs to be a vibrant, exciting and environmentally attractive place to be in, as well as a thriving residential and employment centre,” Goff says.

“That means building the city centre around people, not motor vehicles.

“A city centre which is more accessible and less congested will have a better and healthier environment and will be a great place to relax in and enjoy.

“The city centre creates 20 per cent of Auckland’s GDP, and making it stronger increases the economic wellbeing of the whole city.” 

The masterplan aims to deliver a connected network of green parks and streets across Auckland city centre. This will run from Quay Park and The Domain in the east through to Victoria Park and Wynyard Quarter in the west.

Councillor Chris Darby, Planning Committee chair, says Auckland is changing rapidly, so we must accelerate the shift from a drive-through city centre, to a go-to city centre – and sooner, rather than later. 

“Over 80,000 Aucklanders jump onto public transport to the city each morning peak and pedestrian numbers have doubled since 2012 with people making around 500,000 city centre walking trips per day,” Darby says.

"Right now, there is $16 billion of private and public investment underway which will only speed up the transformation of our city centre.

This map shows the areas of the city centre where transit orientated development is proposed, creating a better environment for walking, cycling and micro-mobility to increase connectivity within the centre.

“This people focussed change isn’t a nice to have, it’s fundamental for our city centre to work successfully and to support the changing ways Aucklanders want to use it.”

“Fewer vehicles in our city centre dramatically reduces carbon emissions improving the health of Aucklanders, and together with our future use of zero-emission public transport, it will deliver on council’s commitment to create a zero-emissions zone in our city centre by 2030 - that’s significant.   

Darby says a pilot of Access for Everyone on Queen Street should be operating by next March to coincide with street closures for City Rail Link construction. 

“Let’s be clear, we are fundamentally changing how our city centre and its transport system works, we must take Aucklanders along with us on this journey of change. So having a robust plan in place with the funding and resources available to turn vision into reality is an essential next step.”