Auckland: Rescaled governance and post-suburban politics

Abstract

The nature and politics of urban development in Auckland have undergone rapid transformation following amalgamation of eight separate authorities in 2010. Institutions governing metropolitan planning and infrastructure provision were rescaled to form the Auckland Super City Council in 2010, with an ambitious vision to become the world's most liveable city and ongoing political contestation between the local and central government. Amalgamation of Auckland's governance was conceived and imposed by the central government as part of a broader economic strategy centred on "competitive cities". However, Auckland Council's first strategic plan adopted a contrasting agenda, centred around the goal of "liveability". Auckland's recent developments illustrate the challenges of a distinctly post-suburban polity. The majority of employment is located in suburban areas and the city has variegated and overlapping patterns in spatial form generated through inconsistent infrastructure interventions across local and national authorities. Conflicting urban policy agenda at national and local scales shows a tension between the pursuit of economic development and provision for collective needs. The politics of post-suburban development create specific challenges for Auckland's governance. s Liveability and economic competitiveness are treated as complementary terms in political rhetoric, however trade-offs emerge at a smaller spatial scales. Public concern over housing affordability and risks to the financial stability of New Zealand's economy have led to central government intervention and renegotiation of authority between different tiers of government for land use and infrastructure provision. Auckland's position as New Zealand's largest city and economic centre frequently blurs the distinction between issues of local and national significance. Auckland's governance challenges are not unique, however the current tensions are exacerbated by its dominance in a small and geographically-isolated nation.

Auckland’s Urban Sprawl, Policy Ambiguities and the Peri-Urbanisation to Pukekohe

“…The material presented in this paper is the outcome of a qualitative research study aimed at explaining the role of urban and rural policies in promoting Auckland's urban sprawl. The sprawling condition of the city is usually denied, or at least absent from planning narratives, as it carries negative connotations usually linked to developing countries or inefficient planning regimes mainly dominated by market trends [10]. Indeed, Auckland is usually portrayed as one of the most livable cities in the world in mass media rankings, clearly obscuring structural indicators for quality of life linked to social and economic issues [55,56].…”

“…Larger peri-urban areas can include towns and villages within an urban agglomeration. Such areas are often fast changing, with complex patterns of land use and landscape, fragmented between local or regional boundaries" [10,29].…”

“…In the case of Auckland and other city-regions, control of urban sprawl has relied on restrictions to urban growth [3], accompanied by narratives of urban sustainability [4], livability [5], compactness [6], urban regeneration [7] and increments of suburban density [8]. However, these attempts are undermined by more structural drivers of suburbanization, such as the persistent desire to live near the countryside [9], high rates of car dependency [10], housing affordability [11], lack of control of the land market [12], and the underestimation of rural assets [13]. Indeed, suburban sprawl is somehow enhanced rather than reduced by regulatory frameworks.…”

Campgrounds as service hubs for the marginally housed

“…The supply of housing is not matching demand, particularly in Auckland’ (Hargreaves, , p.1). Thus, in the same city that makes much of its high rankings in Mercer's Quality of Living Survey (McArthur, ), a growing population of severely housing deprived people is dependent upon informal accommodation (Amore et al ., ). This accommodation includes caravans, vehicles, garages, sheds, and other “temporary” structures, both on private residential land and within campgrounds.…”

Victims of their own (definition of) success: Urban discourse and expert knowledge production in the Liveable City

“…Three years earlier, Auckland launched its first metropolitan strategic spatial plan and announced the goal of becoming the world's most liveable city, building on global rankings that awarded the third place to the city in 2012 (Mercer, 2012). However, the rapid growth of a house price bubble and protracted political disputes over rapid transit investment undermined this goal (McArthur, 2017), which the city abandoned in 2016. Why does liveability discourse persist in urban policy when, in practice, it is so difficult to achieve?…”