KARAKA DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Logan Cairns+Nick Regal+Grant Hamblyn

CONTENTS

CONTEXT

SITE - REGIONAL TO LOCAL

NORTH ISLAND

1-Context 1.1-Site (Regional to Local) 1.2- Slope and Aspect 1.3-Hydrology 1.4-Existing Vegetation 1.5-LUC 1.6-Existing Infrastructure 1.7-Watershed 1.8- Constraints

2-Development 2.1-Catchment Proposal 2.2-High Density 2.3-Medium Density 2.4-Low Density 2.5-Density Examples 2.6- Coastal Edges 2.7 Commercial Hubs

3-Final Proposal 3.1- Zoning Layout 3.2- Re-vegetated Land 3.3- Coastal Edges

By 2050 it is projected that 75% of the worlds population will be living in cities. With the ever growing population of Auckland City, developments need to be taken to insure the projected population rise can be accommodated within New Zealands largest City. Whether our city area is concentrated into high rise development or to try managing urban sprawl which we love so much in the past, are all questions yet to be answered by councils and planners. In Karaka, a rural area in South Auckland a large amount of land owners known as the Collective have proposed to the Auckland City Council that they will sell off the majority of their land for development. The Karaka area consists of two major land masses known as Karaka North and Karaka West. These areas are mostly dominated by agricultural practice. With horse studs, sheep and dairy farming mostly taking place. In recent times land lots being sold in the past they and mostly been developed and subdivided into high end residential dwellings. As a group we have come up with a plan of the area that will allow for approximately 35,000 people to live in the area. The plan consists of high, medium and low residential density zones. We intend for our proposal to be an environmental sensitive approach to development within Karaka as well as a step in the right direction for Auckland becoming the most liveable city.

AUCKLAND CONTEXT

1 KARAKA SITE 1

CONTEXT

SLOPE AND ASPECT

CONTEXT

HYDROLOGY

This mapping shows the slope of our site greater than 15 degrees. These indicate all the slopes too great to be built upon. All the areas represented in the red will need to be vegetated to avoid surface run off as well as any further degradation to the slope. Through this mapping we understand there are a small amount of steep slopes in the area. Karaka is compiled mostly of gentle undulations which gives testament to its primary use of agricultural land use. Most of these slopes follow areas of hydrology, such as coastline and rivers. In this instance these areas will also be re-vegetated due to riparian corridors as well as coastal buffers. In the blue areas show the southern facing slopes of our site. These areas are undesirable areas for building. These area can be planted and activated through vegetation.

This map shows tributaries within the Karaka area. These will be re-vegetated with a 15metre buffer to create riparian corridors. These corridors are used for soil conservation of the river banks but can hold extremely diverse ecologies. Throughout our mapping we show both the water catchments and the riparian corridors. Areas around our coastline will also be buffered. These are sensitive areas due to the ecologies based around this boundary. These areas can be buffered to avoid run off as well as a coastal buffer for possible sea level rise.

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CONTEXT

EXISTING VEGETATION

CONTEXT
LUC

Throughout our site there are small patches of vegetation within the boundary constraints. However looking outside our boundary there are both areas of vegetation which could be used to incorporate into our proposal. Patches of both indigenous and native vegetation consist around the southern end of our constraints line. These patches would house existing ecologies, with further expansion of this areas of native and indigenous into a Karaka development would allow steeping stones for these ecologies.

From looking at this mapping we notice the majority of the Karaka site is of a Class II category. In all consideration this is good land judging by its class system. Majority of the land has very slight limitations in accordance to slope, drainage, erosion, soil, as well as climatic limitations. Within our boundary only small patches of land rate in either Class III or Class IV categories. This could be due to a variety of reasons such a lower fertility of soils, poorer drainage or higher more severe slopes.

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CONTEXT

EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE

CONTEXT
WATERSHED

This mapping shows the existing roads within our site. Being an area built mostly of large land plots road connection isnt too dense within our area. Most of our roads reside along the high ridgelines of our site. The existing infrastructure seems to mimic the ridgelines of the watersheds. These areas can become main arterial routes of transport for further development and a possibility of branching out into each catchment.

Through this map shows the Drainage Catchment for our site with the green lines being the ridgelines. Watersheds start at the ridgelines and move down towards the sea. Through looking at this map we can see the drainage catchments break down the Karaka site into a mosaic of separate cells. The Watershed has become a key drive for our design proposal as each cell can be used for pockets of development depending on the particular constraints within that cell.

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CONTEXT

CONSTRAINTS

DEVELOPMENT

CATCHMENT PROPOSAL

RU

NO

This shows the current constraints working within our site. Steep Slopes over fifteen degrees, riparian buffers, southern facing slopes, coastal buffers as well as indigenous forest all restraint where we can develop. The watershed isnt necessarily a constraint for our development but it is the key driver behind our design proposal. We use the watershed as a gridding agent for our design process.

For our design proposal we want to base our development around the concept of the watershed. The Watershed has become our main restraint in order of conveying our density plan. Watersheds act as a drainage divide. We look to structure our development based around these divisions. We have broken our catchment into three main densities of high, medium and low. Within our proposal we look to place areas of high density along the ridgelines of each catchment. With high density areas having higher impermeable surface area there will be greater run off in these areas. As we move down our density catchments from medium to low density the impermeable surface area will become less. With less runoff down towards the coast we can attempt to mimic the natural structure of the catchment. With less run off, there is less impact upon the sensitive ecologies that live around our coastline boundaries. The Watersheds allow us to structure our design proposal as we can design for each particular catchment. The Watershed creates a mosaic of cells within our site. This allows us to work upon each cell individually and to apply our theory to the constraints of that cell.

HIGH DENSITY

FF

MID DENSITY

LOW DENSITY

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DEVELOPMENT
HIGH DENSITY

Legend High Density HIGH DENSITY TOWN CENTRES Town Centers TRANSPORT Transport Links COMMERCIAL Retail and Commercial

DEVELOPMENT
MEDIUM DENSITY

Legend Medium Density MEDIUM DENSITY TRANSPORT Transport Links GREEN SPACE Public Parks GREEN CORRIDORS Green Corridors

In this Mapping we show our high density in the deep red section of the map. High density zones along the ridgelines this also gives benefits for our view shafts. Areas based along the ridgelines gain greater views of the water ways however areas closer to the shoreline have are allocated with larger land plots. The High Density zone coincides with the existing roads on the site with roads situated along the ridgelines of our catchments. This will create our main artery of transport. This will allow us to develop our high density primarily and then branching out from these main areas into our areas of lower density. Along our main road there will be commercial and retail shops. Set back from the road will be our residential development. Two key commercial hubs will be allocated into our site, one on either side of the North and West Karaka. A third commercial zone will be located south of our Karaka constraint. This third Hub will be located around the existing commercial development seen just off the main road of Karaka. 146 hectares has been selected for high density development and can accommodate 24,000 people. High density housing will consist of 2 or 3 level apartment blocks on 500 sq m sites which will create about 7,300 homes, able to accommodate 3 - 4 people.

This medium density is distinguished by larger land blocks than seen in the high density zones. Throughout this density will be more Individual housing development in comparison to the housing complexes within the high zone. This mid density has less impermeable surface as the catchment works its way to the coastline. The Mid Density acts as a bridging between the high and low as it shifts from commercial and dense residential into more self-sustained living. 550 hectares has been selected for medium density development which can accommodate 9,000 people. These houses will be on lot sizes of 2,000 sq m to provide 2,750 3 - 4 bedroom homes

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Legend

DEVELOPMENT
LOW DENSITY

Low Density LOW DENSITY TRANSPORT Public Parks GREEN SPACE Green Corridors GREEN TransportCORRIDORS Links

DEVELOPMENT
DENSITY EXAMPLES

Within our Low Density zone this will be the area with the greatest sized land plots. This area has greater access to the coast and larger public open spaces. The low density area is a hybrid development with both agriculture and living. Having a low density zone encroaching upon the coastal boundary we want to make this area with the least impacting development. Having lower zone of non-impermeable surface will reduce the run off within the site. Understanding there is significant run off through farm land we could like to buffer the coastal edge with further vegetation. Within our Low Density there will be areas of public green pockets located around the coast. These areas will be linked back tot the central hub of North and West Karaka. Through a series of green corridors access to these public parks can be filtered through our three zones of density. 1040 hectares has been designated for low density development and is able to accommodate about 700 people. Each site will be 5 hectares on average to make space for about 200 3 - 4 bedroom houses.

These images show examples of the density grain within our site. The The top image shows examples of our low density. Large open spaces with housing rather scattered. Small areas of housing clusters which have been developed without any planned or uniformed approached. Our medium density shows areas of finer grain. All of which are independent housing with areas of open space. This area is more regimented and structured for development. Lastly shows the area of high density development. This area will be a highly structured development with larger impermeable areas. Through this area there is opportunity of land plots rising up to 3-4 stories in certain areas, this is dependent on view shafts and surrounding buildings.

LOW DENSITY

MEDIUM DENSITY

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HIGH DENSITY

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DEVELOPMENT
COASTAL EDGES

DEVELOPMENT

HIGH DENSITY TOWN CENTRES TRANSPORT MEDIUM DENSITY LOW DENSITY

COMMERCIAL HUBS

We understand that our coastal boundary is a highly sensitive area. Although we want to reduce the development along the coast we also want people to be able to experience the coastline. Throughout our low density zone there will be pockets of green spaces which situate themselves around the coast. These areas will be accessed through lines of green corridors which follow riparian corridors. These green corridors will punctuate themselves throughout all three densities of our development and branch out from our central hubs located in the western and northern ends of Karaka. We look to also buffer our coastline to help reduce any further run off from each catchment. Along this buffer we will have a boardwalk which will connect all the green pockets. This will allow access routes from all three densities on both the north and western sides of Karaka. Walking and cycling loops can be used from with zone and green open spaces to the coastline can be used for recreational purposes.

Within the constraints of our site we look to have three separate commercial hubs. Each of these sites will fall within our high density zonings and locate themselves along main arterial roads. The southern commercial hub of our site already exists. This will be expanded to become the main commercial zone. This area will hold majority of the services and needs. With our predicted Karaka population being around 34,000 people this zone will need to accommodate various amenities. In this zone we will have a Supermarket, Mall and Health Centre. With our other two commercial hubs located in the Western and Northern Karaka will hold smaller stores for convenience. Corner stores, post offices, bars, cafes and smaller doctors surgeries will be located in these smaller commercial zonings. The commercial hubs located in both the western and northern Karaka are also the key points of convergence for our green corridors.

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FINAL PROPOSAL
ZONING LAYOUT

Legend MAIN ROADS Main Roads GREEN CORRIDORS Green Corridor WATERSHED Watersheds COASTAL BOARDWALK Coastal Walkway Green areas GREEN SPACES Re-vegetated land GREEN SPACES LOW DENSITY Low Density MEDIUM DENSITY Medium Density
HIGH High DENSITY Density

FINAL PROPOSAL
RE-VEGETATED LAND

Legend OPEN GREEN SPACES RE- VEGETATED LAND GREEN CORRIDORS

This shows our final mapping which conveys our density development for Karaka West and Karaka North. As stated earlier within the e-book we wanted to reduce as much impact to our site as possible. We decided to structure our site much like a Watershed. We wanted to locate the areas with higher impermeable surface areas at the ridgelines of our catchments and the areas with a smaller percentage of impermeable areas filtering down towards the coastline. The development would act much like a natural catchment. We wanted to avoid as much additional run off within the site to avoid damaging existing ecologies around the coastal boundary. There are positives for each of our density development. The Higher Density allows greater view shafts to the coastline and is closer to amenities. As we move further towards the coastline the land plot being to increase in size and there is less high rise development. Larger green space and closer contact with the coast is also a huge positive for these lower lying areas. There is a sensitive topic regarding a bridge from Weymouth onto Karaka West. We wanted our design proposal to be compatible whether or not this bridge was implemented or not. Having 35,000 people to enter our site I feel the bridge would be a good idea to gain the most from our design proposal.

To develop our site we wanted to regenerate the area with more vegetation. Karaka being mostly used for agricultural purposes was relatively low lying undulating land with minimal vegetation. Firstly we had to buffer certain areas such as the coastline, steep slopes over 15 degrees and riparian corridors. We looked into areas of indigenous and native vegetation around our site. Located at the intersection between Karaka West and North there was two patches of existing native and indigenous vegetation. Through our proposal we want to intensify this area as a threshold between the two Karakas. This would be our core patch of vegetated land. From here we would use patches of vegetation where there was a density of southern facing slopes. These patches would act as stepping stones for bird life and other ecologies. Further green zones would be our green corridors. These corridors lead from our commercial hubs and puncture down towards the coastline.

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FINAL PROPOSAL
COASTAL EDGES

COASTAL EDGES Legend

LOW DENSITY Low Density GREEN CORRIDORS Green Corridors COASTAL BOARDWALK Coastal Walkway RIPARIAN CORRIDORS Riparian Corridors Town Centers TOWN CENTRES Public Parks GREEN SPACES

As we wanted to protect the coastal quality of our site we wanted people to be able to experience the coast as well. A coastal boardwalk would be accompanied along a coastal buffer. People would be able to access this coastal buffer through a number of green corridors which extend out through the central commercial hub of each karaka. These corridors would puncture through each density zone and follow down riparian corridors. Located at the end of each corridor would be pockets of green open public space for recreation. This would allow each density access to the coast as well as a walking or cycle loop back to their starting destinations.

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