Managed expansion into future urban areas

In the next 30 years new communities will be established in future urban areas. These will be on the fringe of Auckland's existing urban area, and in rural and coastal settlements.

Forming new communities

Around 15,000 hectares of rural land and coastal areas that could accommodate approximately 137,000 homes and 67,000 jobs over the next 30 years have been identified as suitable for urban development.

Expansion into greenfield areas will be managed within the Rural Urban Boundary.

Development will be sequenced, and timed for when these areas will be 'live zoned' and the necessary bulk infrastructure is in place. The Future Urban Land Supply Strategy (PDF 3.98MB) outlines this approach in detail.

Interactive map - Future urban areas

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Areas that have already been zoned as urban in the Auckland Unitary Plan have been sequenced first. Other early sequencing priorities are areas with less infrastructure constraints - for example, Whenuapai.

Areas that have significant infrastructure or environmental constraints are sequenced later in the 30 year timeframe - for example, Takanini.

What is needed to succeed

Because of the scale of growth envisaged in Auckland's future urban areas, and the housing and employment choices they can provide, it is crucial that they are developed in an efficient, cost-effective and sustainable way.

They also need to be vibrant places for the new communities who will live there. This requires a network of strong centres and neighbourhoods, integrated with good transport choices, and supported by a wide range of housing types and densities.

These areas will also require employment other than that provided in centres. Services and facilities such as schools and hospitals, parks, sports fields and community facilities will also be required. Two additional hospital sites in the north and south will be needed in the future.

Challenges we face

There are many challenges to creating new urban areas, including environmental constraints and impacts:

these areas are predominantly rural at present and have little or no infrastructure in place to cope with urban development
providing the required bulk infrastructure (water, wastewater, storm water and transport) to these areas in the right place at the right time
funding and delivery of significant infrastructure projects to these areas are key drivers of development timing.