Jury out on whether taking cars out of the CBD means boom or bust for retailers

Thursday, 17 June 2021

Wellington City Council’s plan to pedestrianise the ‘golden mile’ has been met with disappointment from retailers who say they are still recovering from the impact of Covid-19.

Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford said that the announcement that private vehicles would be banned from the main thoroughfares through central Wellington was disappointing news for struggling retailers.

“The proposal will make it harder for customers to travel into and around the CBD by car, and will likely further damage retail businesses in the CBD,” he said.

But international research shows pedestrian-focused shopping areas can benefit retailers, if done right.

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An artist's impression of Midland Park as part of the golden mile transformation plans.

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In 2018, Just Economics in Britain examined the impact of pedestrianisation on city centres around the world.

The report found that investing in better streets and spaces for walking could provide a competitive return compared with other transport projects.

Retail also benefited from car-free streets, with some shops reporting up to a 30 per cent increase in foot traffic when cars were removed, the report found.

However, it was not enough to just take the cars away.

Councils need to invest in public transport and cycling infrastructure to compensate, the study found.

University of Auckland urban planning expert Dr Lee Beattie said the key challenge facing any plan to pedestrianise a retail area was the question of people density.

“If you are going to replace the energy of these high streets, you have to ask how you are going to get people into these kinds of places,” Beattie said.

The majority of people surveyed preferred the most radical option for Wellington's revamp, which included the pedestrianisation of Lambton Quay through to Courtney Place.

New Zealand retail centres have had a mixed experience with pedestrianisation efforts, he said.

Onehunga Mall in Auckland was a good example where pedestrianisation did not work, he said.

“There wasn’t the density to support that and the nature of that high street is just so long that it didn’t work,” Beattie said.

“So yes, conceptually, it's a really good idea, but then you have to ask, does it have the density and the catchment to make this sort of thing work?”

Urban designer Garth Falconer says town centres looking to pedestrianise need to focus on human connection.

But Auckland’s city centre was a good example of where pedestrianisation could work, Beattie said.

Thirty years ago, there was little after-work foot traffic, and it was a dangerous place for people to be after hours.

However, more people now lived in the city centre, which meant there was a community being built in and around the main streets, he said.

Wellington’s urban planners would need to consider how the development would cultivate energy for retailers, he said.

Planners also needed to ensure pedestrianised areas were accessible to everyone, he said.

Director of Reset Urban Design, Garth Falconer, said the future of downtown areas would be based on stimulating, comfortable and safe environments.

Residential options in the city centre were important, as well as events and safety, so people could go out at night, Falconer said.

“Pedestrianisation has had a chequered history but over the last few decades it has become more sophisticated,” he said.

The most successful efforts focused on socialisation and the need for people to be with other people.

“These are very human things, and we need to maximise the humanness,” he said.

The Wellington revamp is part of the $6.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme, a joint venture between Wellington’s city and regional councils and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, which aims to overhaul Wellington's transport network and alleviate the gridlock in and around the capital.

Wellingtonians were offered three options to redevelop the city centre during a consultation process last year.

The vast majority of the 2000 Wellingtonians surveyed backed the “transform” option, the most radical of the options.

The revamp, which would cost between $52m and $79m, would close the roads to private vehicles and between 100 and 200 car parking spaces would be removed.

Emergency vehicles would still have access to the area, while commercial and delivery vehicles were likely to have access at certain times of the day. Private cars would still be allowed on surrounding streets.

A survey commissioned during the consultation process found only 22 per cent of people accessed the area in private vehicles. They contributed 23 per cent of the area’s retail spending, compared with 32 per cent for public transport users and 35 per cent for pedestrians and cyclists.