Evaluation of the Regional Growth Strategy

• Reviewing the Regional Growth Strategy
• Key findings
• Technical reports
• Other reports

Reviewing the Regional Growth Strategy

The first evaluation of the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) has been completed and was endorsed by the Regional Growth Forum in September 2007. Entitled Growing Smarter, the Auckland Region in the 21st Century, the review has focused on evaluating progress, updating information and identifying ways to improve implementation.

The evaluation has involved:

• a range of technical work
• selected consultation with key stakeholders
• political engagement through workshops of the Regional Growth Forum.

  Key Findings

• While the region has made a good start, there is an urgent need for a more concerted and sophisticated approach to implementation of the Growth strategy.
• The Auckland Sustainability Framework has reinforced the importance of the core principles of the Growth Strategy - a more compact settlement pattern and focusing growth in a network of vibrant, walkable, centres offering a diverse range of services and facilities connected by high quality passenger transport.
• Significant progress has been made - development of supporting strategies and plans, legislative and governance changes, huge investment in infrastructure, and a strong market for more intensive urban living and increase in passenger transport use.
• Range of challenges include barriers to comprehensive quality centres-based development (such as current planning and approval processes and infrastructure constraints), limited good development examples, community opposition, limited tools and uncertainty as to the sequencing and nature of future growth and investment.
• A range of actions are recommended including to: identify priority areas for implementation; refine the classification of centres, business areas and corridors; complete plan changes; develop and trial new approaches to encourage quality residential and business intensification and large-scale urban transformation; coordinate infrastructure planning and investment; improve communication, monitoring and information sharing.

Technical reports

A number of technical reports have been produced as part of the evaluation process and are available to download. Other reports will be made available once they are completed.

Based on case studies, this report highlights the importance of having a clear typology of centres or urban hierarchy and provides recommendations for refining Auckland's centres approach. 

Sets out an approach, informed by a set of objectives, for prioritising implementation in centres. The report is informed by approaches in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. 

Determines the role of mixed-use activities as a vehicle for town centre intensification; identifies core actions to increase mixed-use activities, and addresses intensification of specialist employment areas.

Identifies the primary drivers and mechanisms for business land intensification in 11 key centres and business areas in the Auckland Region. Makes recommendations on successful approaches to increase business intensification. 

An additional piece of technical work, provided through the LGA(A)A process around agglomeration.

Explores examples of comparable cities to Auckland (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Vancouver and Portland), summarises their long term growth strategies and reviews the tools they use to manage their growth and create quality urban environments. Also summarises some of recent literature relevant to the RGS outcomes.

Provides an analysis of the intensive housing market in the Auckland Region and implications for future growth management.

Explores the relationship between urban form and productivity, and the links between the Regional Growth Strategy and the Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy.  

Looks at economic trends and drivers of business land and how it affects business land demand. It builds on work previously developed for Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy, Metro Action Plan and the Business Land Strategy. 

Intensification of Centres and Business Areas (January 2007)  (coming shortly)
Reviews international experience of increasing business activities in centres and business areas. Uses comparable overseas cities and details elements that have characterised successful approaches to intensification. 

Reports on the findings from a survey of 23 developers, planning consultants and financiers, to gather views and perspectives on constraints and opportunities to intensification in Auckland. 

Summarises community views on urban growth and intensification drawn from a wide range of consultation conducted by Auckland councils since 2001.

Reports on the 16 Outcome Areas identified in the Regional Growth Strategy.

Reviews the process and governance arrangements for recent infrastructure planning efforts in Sydney, South East Queensland, Melbourne and Ontario. It uses this recent experience to identify a set of elements that characterise successful approaches to infrastructure planning and delivery and reviews the concept of a "single infrastructure plan".

Monitoring Regional Growth: Key Results from RGS Monitoring Reports (March 2007) : Summarises the key results of the various RGS monitoring reports and recommends improvements to be made for future RGS monitoring. 

Population and Dwellings (2006 Census) - report on initial results for the Auckland Region : Initial 2006 census results for the Auckland Region, covering population size and distribution, changes in population characteristics, employment and income, changes in occupied dwellings and number of motor vehicles. You can view the initial 2006 census results for the Auckland Region via this link.

Other reports that are key inputs to the evaluation include:

Draft Long Term Sustainability Framework for the Auckland Region (Dec 2006)

This report and background papers informed the RGS evaluation process and have been completed as the Auckland Sustainability Framework. For more information on sustaining Auckland, take this link: www.sustainingauckland.org.nz.

Provides a strategic framework for future business growth in the Auckland Region to 2031, consistent with the overall direction provided by the Regional Growth Strategy. 

Outlines the results of studying urban density in various Auckland locations, with an emphasis on assessing the urban density of specific areas identified, and how they compare with the urban densities required to better support passenger transport systems.

This report is the outcome of a review of community surveys, media articles and research literature relating to the links between intensification and social issues, both in New Zealand and internationally.

Identifies practical applications for localised sustainable energy and water systems within intensified centres of the Auckland Region, based on international case studies. 

Considers some of the key demographic changes occurring within the Auckland Region that are likely to impact on the demand for housing. Census data from 1991 - 2001 census years have been used for analysis. 

Environmental Awareness Survey (2005/06) : Annual survey of region's residents' perceptions and awareness of natural and built environment issues or of the ARC. 

If you have any problems accessing any of these documents, contact us on 09 366 2000 or info@arc.govt.nz.