Last year, 4000 people had their say on what they wanted Dunedin to be like in 30 years' time. Now, having produced a 30- to 40-year plan for the city, the city council is working on a more detailed 10-year district plan to lay out the rules for what exactly can be done and built on Dunedin land. When complete, it will replace existing development rules with new ones that aim to achieve the vision of the spatial plan. Debbie Porteous takes a look at what that vision is, and how it is going to be achieved.
Most would agree rules are little use unless you know what you are trying to achieve by them. That is where a spatial plan comes in.
A spatial plan sets out a vision for a city - by outlining what its inhabitants and managers think it should look like at a certain point in the distant future, and what needs, broadly, to be done to get there.
A district plan sets out the specific rules for how land in the city can be used.
Last month, the city of Dunedin adopted its first spatial plan.
Although not legally required, except in Auckland, most New Zealand cities have one to guide planning.
Next week, the city council will be seeking people's feedback on issues and options for a new district plan, which will be based on the big picture policy directions and ideas people wanted to see in the spatial plan.
More than 4000 people contributed to the vision it outlines through last year's "Your City Our Future" consultation.
More than 214 people made a submission on the resultant draft plan and about 100 of them delivered their submissions in person to councillors over a week in February.
The plan was developed further with hours of voluntary input from community groups, business people, social, cultural and recreational workers, and councillor meetings and debate over what should change, what should stay in and what should be left out, before it was adopted by the full council last month.
On adopting it, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said he thought people, including those who spoke at the hearings, were positive and supportive of the spatial plan and its intent.
"They were generally excited that a vision for the city, perhaps overdue, has been developed and expressed."
Having a spatial plan was very important to a city, he said.
It "philosophically underpinned" where Dunedin people wanted the city to go and where it needed to go, in the light of things like population growth and ageing, environmental changes and infrastructure, and financial constraints.
The plan gave council the building blocks it needed to ensure Dunedin would develop in the direction its residents wanted it to.
To produce the plan has been a substantial process indeed, and while the likes of developers and businessmen will have an intense interest in, and understanding of, these sorts of planning documents, they contain a lot that should be of interest to Joe Bloggs too.
So, according to "Dunedin Towards 2050 - A Spatial Plan for Dunedin", what does the city look like in 2050?
The plan envisions a compact city with resilient townships.
The city's rural and urban townships/communities are connected socially and designed to promote physical and psychological well-being. That makes it a city that provides a quality of life that makes people want to stay in it, and come to live in it.
It has not expanded beyond its current boundaries because there has been emphasis on well-designed in-fill and multi-unit - or granny flat - housing development, particularly in residential areas close to public transport and facilities.
Residents can choose from a choice of affordable, warm and energy-efficient houses.
There are safe and pleasant public spaces and it is known for its unpolluted and safe harbour, which is well-used for recreation and sport.
It has a reputation for excellent, quality schools and tertiary education institutions and is an "eco-city" with sustainability and resilience an integral part of all development.
The coastal environment is preserved and development along the coast has protected the natural environment.
A network of natural and water corridors run throughout urban areas, which link them to the countryside, and the character, identity and social fabric of rural communities is maintained.
Known hazard areas have not been developed.
Productive land is protected, food is produced locally and sustainable energy development has been embraced.
New developments are low-impact, warm and energy-efficient, and older buildings are retrofitted to the same standard. Adaptive re-use and restoration has improved the building stock.
Infrastructure has been maintained and growth has been sustained by the existing infrastructure.
Dunedin is connected by a highly efficient transportation network, roads have been redesigned to improve pedestrian and cycling experience and there are fewer cars because more people are walking or cycling, ride-sharing or using the fast and frequent public transport system.
The city's character and identity has been protected and enhanced, and it is internationally renown for its contemporary and heritage architecture and design.
It also has clearly defined commercial and social-cultural precincts and centres.
The central city is the heart of the city's economic and social life and the city has a network of pedestrian routes linking the tertiary-medical precinct in the north to the warehouse precinct in the south and harbour to the east, and is "buzzing" with people and activity.
Dunedin is an incubator city and arts capital that has a reputation for being an ideas factory, which attracts diverse economic activity, and attracts entrepreneurs, skilled people, students, migrants, scientific researchers, visitors and returning alumni, adding international vibrancy.
High-quality transport links and digital networks are creating opportunities for connecting to markets and clients.
Under-used parts of the central city have been revitalised, and the current hierarchy of existing suburban, neighbourhood and rural centres has been maintained and strengthened.
Similar businesses are clustered in key locations - research and innovation businesses around the tertiary-medical precinct; engineering around the harbour; and technology and business service industries around the warehouse precinct, which will also be residential and creative, and commercial and industrial activities happen in strategic locations.
A thriving rural sector continues to contribute to local and export markets.
But those are only some of the things included in the 140-page vision for Dunedin. With the plan done, city development manager Dr Anna Johnson's team is getting on with the next major piece of work - the "second generation" district plan.
"The work has already begun and we are pleased that with the spatial plan formally adopted by the council, we can be clear that we are headed in the right direction."
A vision for the future
Some of the key actions required to achieve a future Dunedin, as outlined in the spatial plan. -
In residential areas:
• Establish an urban-rural boundary to stop urban sprawl.
• Provide more housing choice for ageing and increasing population, primarily through multi-unit or infill development, the design of which will be carefully controlled.
• Protect the character of residential areas that have heritage character.
• Avoid new and intensified development in low-lying areas subject to increased flooding in the future.
• Discourage intensification where there are infrastructure constraints.
• No more greenfield development until existing capacity is filled.
In rural areas:
• No new rural-residential zones.
• Protect high-class soils from residential and rural-residential development.
• Consider better controls on the design and siting of large houses in rural-residential areas to manage visual and environmental effects.
• Control development on significant landscape features and ridgelines.
Commercial activities and centres:
• Establish clear hierarchy of commercial centres, with central city at top.
• Strictly control out-of-centre development.
• Establish clear hierarchy of preferences for the location of retail activities.
• Review zoning of Andersons Bay Rd area to prevent further expansion of retail categories other than large-format retail.
• Review existing large-scale retail zone at the southern end of Crawford and Cumberland Sts, to include trade-related/home improvement and light industry.
• Create mixed-use environment, including cafes/restaurants, residential, accommodation, tourist and entertainment activities in the harbour area.
• Reinforce George St as principal retail area of Dunedin.
• New mixed-use live-work development in warehouse precinct and promote the area as part of larger creative precinct.
• Encourage more inner-city living, especially in south Princes St area to encourage more commerce.
• Protect heritage buildings and encourage re-use with strengthening.
• Enable more development on Great King and Filleul Sts, including residential upstairs.
• Review boundaries of suburban centres.
• Provide new neighbourhood centre at Brighton.
• Discourage or control residential development at ground level in those centres.
Industrial development:
• Support expansion of Kaikorai Valley/Burnside and Mosgiel industrial areas where appropriate.
• Provide for high-tech or cottage industries within mixed-use environments, such as centres or creative and tertiary-medical precincts.
• Promote northern side of Steamer Basin as industrial heritage precinct.
• Protect areas around Dunedin port for industry, including any services that might be required to support the energy industry.
• Protect transportation infrastructure.
