ViaStrada has finalised its 2010 Urban Design Action Plan and submitted it to the Ministry for the Environment. It has been developed by ViaStrada's Urban Design Group (Andrew Macbeth, Tony Quickfall, Jeanette Ward, Rhys Chesterman and John Lieswyn - profiles available on our website) and is posted on our intranet for staff use.
Our 2010 action plan mostly affirms and reinforces our intention of working towards improved urban design outcomes. It identifies what actions we intend to take to improve the built environment as a company and with our clients, professional affiliations and other community partners throughout New Zealand. It fulfils one of our obligations under the Urban Design Protocol. We have already accomplished most of the actions we set ourselves for 2010.
The protocol is an initiative of the Ministry for the Environment. It was produced in 2005 to promote an improvement in the quality of New Zealand's towns and cities. It sees good urban design as an essential component of successful urban areas. ViaStrada shares these goals and became a signatory to the Urban Design Protocol soon after the company was founded, in 2007.
ViaStrada staff recognise that we have a key role to play as practitioners of land use and RMA planning, transportation planning, traffic engineering and environmental health. We support better integration of land use and traffic planning and policy. We welcome opportunities to work more closely with other stakeholders and professionals (including urban designers, architects, landscape architects and developers) to improve the quality of urban design.
The protocol aims to make our towns and cities more successful by using quality urban design to help them become:
- Competitive places that thrive economically and facilitate creativity and innovation
- Liveable places that provide a choice of housing, work and lifestyle options
- A healthy environment that sustains people and nature
- Inclusive places that offer opportunities for all citizens
- Distinctive places that have a strong identity and sense of place
- Well-governed places that have a shared vision and sense of direction
For more information on our action plan, please contact Andrew Macbeth (ViaStrada's Urban Design Champion) or one of the other team members.