Nau mai, kia mahi, ngatāhi ai! Your guide to designing and building a better Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.

The ‘big three’ for Auckland’s future

The quality compact city has well-designed, high density/high amenity neighbourhoods where people can move from place to place and access local services and jobs with ease. This type of urban form brings environmental, social and economic benefits.

Both the Auckland Plan 2050 and Unitary Plan have adopted a ‘quality compact urban form’ approach to accommodating growth in Auckland. Key goals are to provide quality homes and places for residents and support a low carbon future as the city grows.

The ADM provides information and inspiration on how to achieve these outcomes in your project.

Our goal for Auckland as “a place of wellbeing for all, that welcomes all” requires us to design with health, safety, accessibility and inclusivity in mind. We can wrap those up into a single term – ‘liveability’. Improved liveability is an outcome we can aim for in everything we design and build, from the internal layouts of our houses to masterplanning new neighbourhoods. It’s critical to the future success of our city and people that we keep moving towards this goal.

The ADM contains a wealth of information on this broad topic. For example, you’ll find guidance on how to incorporate Māori design principles into your project; how to design  housing for people’s everyday needs; how to create a sense of place and strengthen communities; how to cater to people with a range of abilities and make the everyday easier for caregivers, and much more.

Changes to the Unitary Plan are underway to help ensure that Auckland grows in a way that lessens the impacts of climate change. These changes align with The National Policy Statement on Urban Development which says our cities must be made resilient to the effects of climate change. Guidance on how to implement climate resilient measures is woven throughout the ADM. We’re all obligated to play our part. The Case Studies, Design Guidance, Places and Spaces and Developing Infrastructure sections are great places to start understanding how you can contribute to a more resilient city.

Design resources for your project