Building our cities up, not out

You can’t open a newspaper or turn on the radio these days without hearing about the so-called “housing crisis”, and how various politicians are going to solve it by somehow getting more houses built.

But for Auckland doctor Sudhvir Singh, the debate is missing a crucial question: What do we want our cities to look like?

Sudhvir, 26, is a spokesperson for Generation Zero, a group of young people concerned about the effect of climate change on their generation.

The housing problem needs to be dealt with in a holistic way, he says, and the current practice of building subdivisions 50km from the centre of town is no solution.

“These new homes on the fringe might appear to be cheaper, but the cost – in financial, social and health terms – is forced onto those whose only option is to live there, and onto the environment as a result of increased emissions from long car commutes.”

Generation Zero’s solution is what Sudhvir calls “density done well”.

“Basically, it’s about making a fun, desirable place to live in for both young and old which retains our best and brightest,” he says.

“It provides people with easy, high-quality, low-maintenance living options that allow them a greater chance to walk to where they have to be, to cycle, to use public transport and not be dependent on using a car and commuting an hour each way.”

Put simply, it means more apartments, and infill and terraced housing, closer to the city centre and to buses and trains.

“Many cities, particularly in Europe, do it so well and there’s no reason we can’t do it here,” says Sudhvir. "Close to a million people are expected to move to Auckland in the next 30 years. If we don’t do anything we’re just going to keep going with the status quo, which is irresponsible and unappealing.”

Auckland Council predictions show the fastest-growing dwellings are those of couples without children and single-person households.

Generation Zero says that there’s currently a massive shortage of smaller properties which means everyone’s competing for the same suburban homes.

Public transport is another critical factor in these denser cities, and Sudhvir is highly critical of the government’s Roads of National Significance programme of building more motorways.

“We’ve already got a good motorway network as it is. The solution is to try and take those cars off the road by giving people choices.

“If you want to drive, I want you to be able to get from A to B faster, and the best way to do that is not spending billions of dollars widening the road. It’s to provide an alternative so that other people who want a choice can use that option. And that option happens to be not only healthier, but better for the environment as well.”

He says Generation Zero has been advocating for public transport plans in Auckland and Wellington, and he says they’re starting to see results, like Wellington City Council’s announcement this week that it plans to triple the amount it spends on cycling.

“Young people are driving less than our parents are. Car ownership rates are lower amongst young people, fewer of us have driver licences compared to our parents’ generation, and we’re driving shorter distances. I think that’s all in keeping with the fact we want to have more liveable cities.”

But the Auckland Council’s draft Unitary Plan, which was released earlier this year talked about such things like denser housing and increased public transport and was greeted with a hailstorm of controversy.

Sudhvir says it was a “missed opportunity” to present a good case for denser cities, and that most submissions were by much older people who grew up with the quarter-acre dream.

“Those people who submitted against the plan were concerned about ugly high-rise buildings, and there are a lot of those in Auckland. We need to communicate a more high-quality version of what density can provide. 

“So it’s not about demolishing heritage for the sake of it. It’s about complementing heritage and, in suburbs where there is a lot of heritage, using land appropriately.”

Sudhvir also concedes that a lot of people do still want a four-bedroom house on a quarter-acre section, and they need to be catered for in cities.

There’s still the chance for people to submit on the unitary plan when it comes out for consultation again next year, and Sudhvir says Generation Zero is working hard to get young people engaged with the process.

“Ultimately, a 30-year plan is for the kind of city that young people are going to live in in the future. I mean, I’m in my 20s now. We’re talking what kind of city Auckland is going to be when I’m in my 50s. So of the people who are going to inherit the city that’s planned today, young people need to have their voice heard.”