Transforming our cityscape to withstand climate change while building healthy communities: Here’s the place to start

Sunday, 18 February 2024

New York's famous High Line garden is one example of bringing nature back into cities.

Dr Maria Armoudian is co-director of Ngā Ara Whetū and senior lecturer of politics and international relations at the University of Auckland. Associate Professor Paola Boarin is co-founder and co-director of the Future Cities Research Hub at the University of Auckland.

OPINION: Modern cities have long relied on urban monoculture through zoning laws, featuring lone industrial areas depleted of nature, buttressing residential zones. This is no longer sustainable.

In East Tāmaki, large swathes of metal buildings crowd the landscape with little else but concrete and car parks. Warehouses, factories, vehicle-servicing businesses and other tin boxes have long replaced (what may have been) rich native forests.

There’s not much greenery to be seen around Auckland International Airport.

In Māngere, the Auckland International Airport surrounds are much the same, with block upon block of concrete and metal, and little to no sign of the indigenous plants and animals that once flourished.

Nearby, Ōtāhuhu also features metal tins of light industry, logistical warehouses, car dealerships, workshops and commercial services, each providing jobs, services, income for Aucklanders and economic power for Aotearoa New Zealand more generally.

But they also come with costs that are not measured through standard economic metrics. The health, wellbeing and vulnerability costs for workers who spend their days there, the residents in surrounding regions, and the local ecosystems are heightened with the inevitable floods and storms that come with climate change.

Last year, Cyclone Gabrielle flooded the area, devastating many businesses, destroying properties, and leaving many workers reticent to return to their jobs. As the planet heats up and the weather grows wilder, those businesses, workers and residents face greater dangers because these types of structures and regions become heat islands that worsen the effects.

Dr Maria Armoudian is co-director of Ngā Ara Whetū and senior lecturer of politics and international relations at the University of Auckland.

But that future is not predestined. Future cities we are imagining transform these and other industrial zones from mono-purpose of economic power to eco-industrial oases in which businesses, workers and communities all thrive. But this will require a new way of thinking. This is the core principle of the University of Auckland’s Ngā Ara Whetū Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society, which was launched on Wednesday.

Associate Professor Paola Boarin is co-founder and co-director of the Future Cities Research Hub at the University of Auckland.

Some, like Germany’s Kalundborg Symbiosis, give us one piece of the puzzle - shared resources in a circular economy. Eighteen private and public companies share excess energy, water and materials to save money and reduce environmental impacts.

New York City offers a second piece. The city converted an old industrial railway track to public spaces and gardens; the High Line is now a world-renowned tourist attraction and favourite place to relax for locals.

Similarly, Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, has transformed its waste management plant into a landmark and urban recreation centre. While converting waste into heat and energy, its roof serves as a 450-metre-long ski slope, and a 500-metre hiking trail that offers a scenic lookout over the city.

These examples hint at what’s possible. Ngā Ara Whetū and the Future Cities Research Hub are seeking a transformative first, to sustain our economic engines, while creating eco-industrial oases that support the health, wellbeing and resilience of our communities.

Research has shown the health benefits of access to nature. Nature contributes to both physical and mental wellbeing through a myriad of dimensions - from cleaner air to cooler environments, and less tangible contributions like reduced anxiety and depression. Science also shows how restoring natural environments sustains ecosystems and helps mitigate climate change in multiple ways, such as carbon sequestration, heat absorption, additional oxygen, cleaner water and biodiversity.

Collaborations with local communities, businesses, iwi, professionals, universities and others can co-design industrial zones that continue to provide incomes and economic benefits, while also advancing health, community services and climate resilience. This approach can provide the model future city for Aotearoa and other parts of the industrialised world.

Instead of just masses of concrete and metal, indigenous plant-green roofs, vertical gardens, rain gardens and permeable pavements absorb and manage stormwater runoff, cool hot structures, mitigate the effects of floods, and reduce energy consumption and noise pollution through their natural insulation.

Adding indigenous flora and wetlands, other green spaces will extract pollutants and carbon from air and soil, cool the region, and reward us with vital oxygen, cleaner waterways and enhanced physical and mental health - all while helping mitigate climate change. Likewise, pathways for walking and cycling with public transportation can free parking spaces to natural parklands, community gardens, or play and recreational areas, while reducing emissions.

These desolate industrial zones could become economic-ecological havens that counter the degrading effects on climate, resources, biodiversity and human health. Not just for workers, but residents and visitors to the area - and as a model for the future regenerative city.