Ngā Pūtahi City Centre

The public realm is defined as the spaces that are accessible and useable by people travelling on foot, experiencing a place from a pedestrian perspective. For the purposes of this document the public realm includes:

• Footpaths along streets

• Shared spaces

• Pedestrian only laneways

• Pedestrian through site links

• Squares, plazas and public open spaces.

The public realm is generally on publicly owned land but can also be on privately owned land where the landowner has afforded the public with pedestrian access. The footpaths, shared spaces and pedestrian laneways located within Auckland Transport’s road network constitutes approximately 50% of the public realm in the city centre

Public Life Surveys (PLS) are a method of observing and registering the day-to-day movements and activities of people as they move about the city - the routes they walk, the places they visit, the activities they engage in, and the length of their stay.

The methodology for these surveys was established in the 1960’s by renowned Danish Architect, Jan Gehl, who realised that the human dimension within public spaces was being overlooked.

The last ten years have seen tremendous change in our city centre. Prime waterfront land has been reclaimed for public use, large scale public transport projects have been initiated and the residential population has more than doubled.

As part of the City Centre Master Plan monitoring programme, Auckland Council continues to observe the city centre’s public spaces, measuring changes to public life to once again reflect how far the city centre has come, and help to inform future change.