It seems that many of our planners and designers continue to be stuck in the past and don’t learn from previous mistakes, even when starting with a blank slate. Take a look at this video promoting Marsden City, a new town being built near Marsden Point that is expected to eventually house 40,000 people. Lots of comments in the video relate to how much parking there is, many buildings are set back quite far from the street to give cars more priority over pedestrians while many of the shots show streets filled with cars and trucks. All up it looks like the same type of auto-centric crap we have in places like Albany, Botany and Manukau. I wish we could get some real urban planners designing our towns rather than traffic engineers.
Marsden City is an exciting new development located at Marsden Point – 90 minutes north of Auckland and just south of Whangarei. It’s spread over 135ha and will include a major commercial retail centre, a large industrial development, residential areas, schools, as well as urban parks, cycle paths, stunning surf beaches and more. And while it’s expected to become the home for over 40,000 people, strong community values that really give people a sense of belonging will remain.
And what’s the bet they will want the motorway from Puhoi to Wellsford carried on so people can get there from Auckland 5 minutes faster.
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