Auckland Light Rail: a recipe for success

Tim O’Loan, Principal, Precincts, Aurecon      https://www.aurecongroup.com/

Precincts are places with purpose, underpinned by a strong and enduring vision. We have a unique opportunity for Auckland Light Rail to enable and define a corridor of successful precincts, but what are the essential ingredients we should be aiming to build on?

We know from experience that at the heart of all precinct and city shaping projects are the people, communities and businesses they serve. Learning from the most successful global precincts, large and small, we know that Auckland Light Rail will need to achieve three distinct aims; stimulate growth and opportunity, support equitable involvement, and focus on a specific ‘role’ and relationship with the broader network of precincts and places.

Precincts focused on a special purpose, such as renewable energy, education, health or sports and entertainment have specific visions and goals. When a network of special use precincts combine, they form an ‘ecosystem’, where competition drives success. So, how will we best assemble the roles across this corridor to enable a series of high performing precincts?

The following four aspects are vital to underpinning successful precincts that are economically and environmentally sustainable, highly liveable, and leave a positive legacy for the future.

What is a place without its people? Collaborating with and responding to the aspirations of the community and Iwi who will live, work and play in a precinct is critical to success for both the place and its users. 

Creating new precincts in decades is a multidisciplinary challenge, requiring a clear and enduring vision. While we aim to create enduring visions for places that span the evolution of a precinct over many decades, our places are never complete; they continually flex in response to people’s needs.

From Aurecon’s experience shaping precincts, the most successful ones have carefully considered governance models that clearly define the precinct’s objectives and drive alignment across key stakeholders.

Pushing the envelope to achieve principles around sustainability, decarbonisation and the circular economy creates future-proofed places and spaces that are adaptable and respond to societal values. As our cities and communities change and grow, precincts breathe new life into areas, unlock public land and enhance life for their users.

So, while success looks different from one place to the next, the measure of it, and key ingredients to achieve it, remain the same.