Simon Wilson: Queen St and the tactics of making a better city
29 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
7 minutes to read
Spots on Shortland St: tactical urbanism that works. Photo / Cherie Howie
OPINION:
Tactical urbanism. It s the small things people do to change the streets and other public spaces, when the big things are too hard. Tactical urbanism has been around a long while. The cafe owners who put tables and chairs on the footpath before they were allowed to were pioneers of tactical urbanism.
And look what a difference they made. Few ideas have ever been as successful in changing our streetscapes for the better. The pleasure of sitting outside ranks right up there with the invention of footpaths, sealed roads and drains. Also ramped edges to footpath crossings, and cycleways.
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Matthew Hooton: Michael Wood, light rail and the new role that could wreck a career
8 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
6 minutes to read
Transport Minister Michael Wood. Photo / Alex Burton
NZ Herald
OPINION: If the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, then Transport Minister Michael Wood s announcement of an Establishment Unit for light rail makes him certifiable.
The same officials, from the same agencies, will do the same analysis, based on the same basic facts and assumptions, that they ve been doing for a decade. Despite their best efforts – and those of the investment bankers and project managers at the Super Fund and CDPQ Infra – no one has been able to make the engineering, economics, environmental impact, politics and construction plan add up.
Auckland Transport/Supplied
An artist s interpretation of what an early version of Auckland light rail system could have looked like. At that point, it all went pear-shaped. To Goff’s delight, the government pledged to fully fund light rail, and it was taken off AT and given to its state counterpart Waka Kotahi. Then, dazzled by a “have we got a deal for you” pitch from a fusion of the Super Fund and a Canadian pension fund, the nonsense really began and the Ministry of Transport was given the job of weighing up two competing and quite different proposals in secret.