The Urban Room brings together professionals and enthusiasts for city shaping in Tāmaki Makaurau. We draw together passionate and talented individuals to bring about better built outcomes for the city. We are an independent centre for conversations that raise the level of public discourse by being informed by professional debate. The city needs an honest broker dedicated to bringing the right people together to make sense of how our city will develop to face the challenges of a warming planet, inequity and what it means to be a Pacific city.
External link for The Urban Room
188 Quay Street
Auckland, AUK 1010, NZ
The Urban Room reposted this
The view from the podium at #CCBC. Great opening and challenge set by Lisa Davis. Thanks for inviting The Urban Room to be part of the kōrero with Andrew E. moderating and to Scott Smith Joe Karten Kali Mercier #climatechange
A super article from Darren Davis ‘And this also bears itself out in the safety statistics. In 2023, 341 people died in road crashes in Aotearoa while 276 people died in Queensland. Adjusting for population, Queensland’s per capita road death rate is 25 per cent below Aotearoa’s.’
Why don’t we build homes in factories?
You can’t have cheap, quick and high quality. Should NZ be looking at a new programme to deliver homes quickly through an industrialised programme? ‘While nearly every other industry has become more productive since 1968, productivity in home-building — the amount of work done by one worker in one hour, essentially — has declined by half.’ Is this US stat the same for NZ? ‘Building codes in the U.S. try to make buildings safe by prescribing exactly what materials must be used and how (a prescriptive code). In Sweden, the government does this by setting goals and letting builders come up with a way to achieve them (a performance code).’ Sam Stubbs Shane Brealey Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka Mark Fraser
Thoughts from our Founder.
As Simon Wilson points out in his article on the Auckland stadium debate (1 June 2024) that ‘despite this being a matter of enormous public interest, the entire process has been conducted behind closed doors. It’s ridiculous.’ Auckland faces many other challenges of affordable housing, transport choice, and climate adaption due to rapid urbanisation. Establishing an Urban Room—a dedicated space for public participation in city planning—is a compelling solution to help tackle these issues and bring transparency and informed decision-making to the process of change. The Urban Room (www.theurbanroom.com) is working to create a physical space in Auckland designed to facilitate dialogue, collaboration, and education about urban development. It serves as a central hub where citizens, planners, architects, and policymakers can discuss and shape the city's future together. Many countries have urban rooms. There are a network of them in the UK. Shanghai has a multi-level building in the centre of the city with a vast model of the city in it. Singapore has a City Gallery that compliments their digital twin of the city. London has the influential NLA. Currently citizens feel disconnected from decision-making in Auckland. The Urban Room can bridge this gap by offering independence and transparency. Take the new stadium proposals: our Urban Room would show it in the context of broader city planning ideas. Not only would we display the four options for the site and scheme, we would gather experts, hold debates and disseminate information. Professionals and citizens would gain valuable knowledge on why the stadium is needed and what is being proposed. They could even vote on their favourite. Last year, The Urban Room created a pop-up space on Quay Street to test the idea. Auckland’s residents, from students to seniors, city centre workers and tourists were able learn about part of the city’s history through two large scale models of the city centre. One dating from 1939, the other from the late 1960s. We engaged people in discussions about current challenges. It demonstrated that The Urban Room is a powerful way of delivering participation in the city design process. We hosted workshops, lectures, and exhibitions that inform and inspire citizens about our city. Using this approach, Auckland, or any city, can cultivate a more informed and engaged citizenry capable of contributing meaningfully to the city’s development. The Urban Room brings together a range of voices and ideas to build a city that reflects the aspirations and values of all its residents, making Auckland not just a city of beauty and culture, but a model of sustainable and participatory urban development. www.theurbanroom.com Mayor Wayne Brown Shane Henderson https://lnkd.in/gnXFkDkX
The Urban Room reposted this
A great article by Sui Lee-Wee about the architect of modern Singapore, Liu Thai Ker. Fascinating to read about his philosophy. “Asked about any regrets, Mr. Liu mentioned two: He should have created bicycle paths for the city, he said, and “preserved a few hectares of the squatter huts with the dirt roads and so on for the younger generation to see.” He added: “Then they would really know how far we’ve traveled.”‘He returned in 1969, accepting a job as head of the design and research unit at Singapore’s Housing and Development Board.’ “He used to tell me that the symptoms of a backward city are: one, homeless people; two, traffic jams; three, flooding; and four, polluted air,” Mr. Liu said of Mr. Lee, Singapore’s founding father. #Auckland
The Urban Room reposted this
In a ranking of industries that use technology, town planning is up their with hunting and fishing for resisting technology use. Building houses seems to be close behind that as well. A neighbour of ours in London built a Baufritz Haus (https://lnkd.in/gQuJXmyG) it is exceptional quality, it is a modular system with lots or variety and lots of choice. Its quick to manufacture and to assemble. It has less waste. When it arrived on site it was put together in days, the site and build was safer, half the crew were women (precision required rather than heavy lifting). But it is not a cheap option and not a mass option yet. Planning consents often make it uncertain. What will it take to have most of our homes built in a factory? Could prior approval ( a deemed consent) work? What elements of house building in NZ could we turn to manufacture and assembly? Sam Stubbs and Shane Brealey of Simplicity Living - what would be need to tip you into building a factory or to start importing parts to assemble on site by a robot?
We are on tour with Sam Stubbs
Huge thanks to Sam Stubbs for taking time to show The Urban Room crew - Stuart Houghton Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka Philip Le Quesne around Range View Apartments. Simplicity Living model is….simple. Buy and use the land for productive income but don’t sell it, don’t borrow money, think hard about the customer, not as a unit to extract wealth but as a person who will be with you for years to come, breed pride in your team and loyalty from everyone who works with you. Give away your IP. Plant lots of trees and expose everyone to art. Oh, and make the ceilings higher- it makes such a difference to the feeling of generosity in a space… It’s not a silver bullet. We need many more models. It’s not for everyone but Sam Stubbs Shane Brealey and team are showing what’s possible. We’re looking forward to following Sam’s story and how we can show how good city living can be.
The Urban Room reposted this
It is possible. It is desirable. It is achievable. Create great streets and you create great cities and change the world. A wonderful and inspiring discussion with Helen Clark and Janette Sadik-Khan. It became a suitable tribute to our friend and colleague Rod Oram. A moving acknowledgement from Simon Wilson. Tāmaki Makaurau has achieved so much in the last decade plus and it was great to be reminded that our work is building on the mahi of those that went before. Small dedicated teams of talented people have changed the city. Enjoy…… https://lnkd.in/g3y5iaTi https://lnkd.in/gXj8Pifk Murray Bruges Seth Solomonow The Urban Room Ludo Campbell-Reid Hon DINZ
These two stories have caught our attention this week. US downtowns and commercial spaces are going through a rapid change. What are the lessons for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland? The first is about the opportunities for reinvention of the office environment as rents drop and stock ages, "The way of life for the offices, as it was before the pandemic, is never going to come back." https://lnkd.in/geU8CnKY The second is a city government-led initiative; a masterplan, for an area of Chicago's downtown. https://lnkd.in/gPmNEufi Committee for Auckland Heart of the City Auckland City Centre Residents Group
Our latest and biggest event....
How Auckland can get its mojo back. It's been a decade since the highly influential Janette Sadik-Khan visited Auckland. That visit was a catalyst for change in the city that has seen the creation and renewal of many public spaces and improvements in cycle and walking infrastructure. In 2014 we didn't have Te ara I Whiti (The Lightpath). But the world has changed, vision is in short supply and momentum has been lost. Many cities adapted and turned the response to COVID-19 into new opportunities for placemaking. Those cities are now forging ahead in most measures of liveability. How can Auckland get its confidence back? The Urban Room has teamed up with The Helen Clark Foundation to bring Janette back to Auckland. Janette Sadik-Khan and Rt Hon Helen Clark will be discussing the possibilities that a renewed sense of confidence in urban transformation could bring to Auckland in the next ten years. Janette will be speaking about her global experience of working with city Mayors and authorities. What lessons has she learned and what are the opportunities she sees for Auckland? Delighted to be working with Auckland Council’s Auckland Conversations. #helenclarkfoundation Helen Clark Murray Bruges Auckland Council Janette Sadik-Khan Seth Solomonow