The challenges we have faced have strengthened our desire to place people at the centre of the redevelopment of our Central City. Our community has told us that they want a Central City that fosters business investment and growth, attracts visitors from around the globe and invites residents to wander, explore and discover the treasures within the lanes, new public spaces and network of parks.
Our Central City Parking Policy needs to support our efforts to make our Central City a vibrant destination to live, work and socialise. Our Central City is now home to around 6,000 residents and growing. There are new public spaces, including gardens and parks, and places to gather, and the city is becoming greener, easier, and more enjoyable to move around. Major public facilities are under construction that will attract people to the city, there are 900 new residential dwellings with more planned, and significant improvements have been made to the transport network to make it easier and safer to move around the city by car, bike, or on foot.
When we consider how our parking policy can best support our Central City, we need to keep in mind that the needs of our city centre are different from those of surrounding suburbs. Our Central City is a hub of productivity and entertainment, with a higher density of people and businesses than is present outside the centre, making it easier to connect.
Businesses can flourish if they enjoy a competitive advantage due to the city centre presenting an attractive offering that is not available elsewhere, supported by this greater number and density of people. The attractiveness of our city centre depends on the vibrancy and mix of its retail and hospitality offerings, entertainment venues, visitor attractions, and public and green spaces, as well as its connectedness.
Our Central City also has a growing density of housing and a large daily influx of workers and visitors. The more attractive our Central City, the more it can meet a wide range of interests and tastes, entice new residents and create new business opportunities, ultimately boosting the diversity and resilience of our local economy. If our city centre prospers, this supports the prosperity of our city as a whole.
This parking policy is about the allocation of valuable Central City street space. The dynamics of that street space can vary across the Central City and this is reflected in the different zones identified in the District Plan.
Our Central City comprises a tight business core (commercial Central City) and graduates out through a mixed area of businesses and dwellings (commercial Central City mixed-use) to culminate in inner-city residential dwellings (residential Central City) that are expected to increase in density as our city grows.
Special purpose areas also exist (including important facilities like our hospital), which contribute to the unique offering of our Central City. In developing a parking policy that helps our Central City to flourish, we need to consider the special role played by the Central City as well as the particular dynamics of each of the areas that make up our Central City.
Our Central City population
Pre-earthquake | Now | Goal |
52,000 employees | 41,000 employees | 75,000 employees by 2048 |
8,000 residents | 6,000 residents | 20,000 residents by 2028 |