Waitakere eco city, New Zealand

Sustainable urban growth in New Zealand’s first eco city.

Waitakere City. Photo by Sandy Austin.

Sustainable cities and towns need to provide clear leadership to ensure that economic development, population growth and urban expansion do not take place at the expense of the local environment.

Using an Agenda 21 document

Waitakere is New Zealand’s fifth largest city, with a population of 180,000 people. It evolved from a combination of Auckland boroughs and residential dormitory suburbs. A third of the city is urban, a third rural and a third is wilderness.

The city council follows The Greenprint, which aims to protect the environment and create an attractive place where people enjoy living. This is Waitakere’s local Agenda 21 document, which describes how Waitakere will implement the vision for sustainable development set out in the global Agenda 21 from the United Nations Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

Actions that Waitakere is taking

• Green network
  Established to stop degradation of Waitakere’s natural heritage and bring nature into the every day lives of residents. The council’s vision is to link together all of Waitakere’s ecosystems, from the pristine native bush in the Waitakere Ranges on the edge of the city, through suburban and urban areas down to the seashore. The council offers people technical advice and subsidies to expand the network and encourages everyone to care for native plants and animals.
• Living sustainably
  Waitakere city council works hard to help everyone feel part of the eco city. For example, the council runs sustainable living courses with practical tips to reduce people’s ecological footprint and save money. The eco-design advisor service provides free advice on how to do environmentally-friendly home building projects.
• Project twin streams
  Citizens and the city council work together to improve the water quality of Waitakere’s streams and restore wildlife habitats. The council signs contracts with local community organisations. These organisations are then responsible for organising community plantings of native vegetation and getting groups such as businesses or schools to adopt specific areas. The council has also decided to purchase and remove some houses in stream flood plains.
• Cleaner production
  Waitakere city council offers practical assistance to businesses and consumers to use resources more efficiently and save money. This includes waste audits, environmental reviews and projects to improve the environmental performance of key industries such as boat-building.

Tags: energy, green infrastructure, public space, transport, waste, water, cities and towns