By 2048, nearly half of our population (44%) is projected to live in just three cities alone: Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga. With increased urbanisation comes a multitude of challenges. Meeting this growth, managing the impact on infrastructure and services, minimising environmental impact and ensuring residents enjoy equitable access to excellent public amenity has been an ongoing issue for city leaders and planners.

It’s widely acknowledged that we can’t continue to build the way we have been. Our cities have largely been designed on the post-war principles of people living in suburbs commuting to work in a CBD by motor vehicle. With 70 years of urbanisation came densification and grid locked cities.

This necessitated a re-think in city planning.

Combined with shifts in social behaviour that embraces flexible working, active and environmentally sustainable travel options along with a digitally enabled world where everything is at our finger tips and on demand – is driving a return to localism.

In the UN 2012 Manifesto for Cities there is a bold declaration that “the battle for a more sustainable future will be won or lost in cities.” Again, drawing from the UN, how we plan, build, and manage our cities now will determine the outcome of our efforts to achieve a sustainable and harmonious development tomorrow.

In 2016 Carlos Moreno proposed the concept of a 15-min city to combat the dysfunction of living in a city. Rather than long commutes, noisy streets and underutilised spaces, He proposed communities where inhabitants have access to all the services they need to live, learn and thrive within their immediate vicinity, making urban areas adapt to humans, not the other way around.

Cities including Helsinki, London, Melbourne, Paris, Singapore, Sydney and Toronto have embraced the principles of a 20-minute city or neighbourhood. WSP is working with many of these cities to help them realise their vision.

The 2021 COVID-19 pandemic has simply accelerated this – making at once both more attainable and desirable. Under lockdown restrictions, neighbourhoods were the only place to fulfil essential activities, and we discovered simpler pleasures. We began to appreciate suburban space—back gardens with veggie patches and trampolines, coffee from the rediscovered neighbourhood café, walks and cycle rides around the local park became highly satisfying experiences and met our need for social interaction, albeit at a social distance. We realised that technology can facilitate working from home very effectively and productively without the grind of a daily office commute.

In our latest report we take insights from leading global cities, and explore what a Future Ready® 20-min city or neighbourhood could look like in Aotearoa New Zealand.

About

David is a member of WSP’s global Future Ready® Leadership team with accountability for Strategic Advisory services.

David’s multi-sector expertise includes strategy development and execution, brand, marketing, client experience and change management. This has been gained through 20 years in senior leadership roles providing strategic consulting for public and private clients operating in diverse markets including Europe, Middle East and USA.