How to Achieve the Key Goals

Urban legibility

Emphasise and celebrate the contrast between the natural, meandering, leafy character of the corridor and the hard urban character of the surrounding grid streets and buildings

Explanation

The green thread of the tree-lined river is an oasis winding through the hard urban landscape of the central city.

The impact of the river landscape springs from its contrast with the adjoining urban areas. The corridor is less of a feature where open green space "leaks away" into neighbouring land. Its impact is also reduced where neighbouring land uses and buildings turn their backs on the river, have an impersonal character or scale, or are dominated by parked vehicles.

The pattern was established in 1850, and has continued with very little change to this day. This feature sets much of the character of the central city. It included the establishment of Oxford and Cambridge Terraces as public roads to make sure that flanking buildings faced towards the river, rather than turning their backs on it.

Since 1989 the Council has operated an urban design strategy to set building scale and height in relation to important central city elements including the Avon River/Ötakaro, and the City Plan gives the Council power to control the appearance of buildings alongside the river. The approach to be taken is outlined in Council’s central city design guide, entitled Design Opportunities: designing within the urban and architectural context of the central city.

Methods

City form

Continue to use City Plan policies and rules to keep the historic relationship between the river corridor and city streets, and to highlight the historic legacy of the grid city and the meandering river flanked by berms and roadways.

Land tenure

Continue to control and manage all of the land in the corridor that is held and/or administered by the Council, including legal roads, as a legacy from the founders of the city for use and enjoyment by the present and future residents of the city.

Connectivity

Continue to reveal the linear nature of the corridor by providing safe and attractive walking, cycling and vehicle routes running through and alongside the berms.

Adjacent buildings

Use City Plan rules to make sure that all new and refurbished buildings alongside the river corridor are designed to present an attractive face to the river, and to respect the heritage character, atmosphere and amenity of the corridor, in line with Council guidelines.

Encourage designers of all new and refurbished buildings alongside the river corridor to provide attractive ground-level visual and physical pedestrian access from the inside of the building to the river landscape, and discourage the location of vehicle entrances on frontages facing the river.

Identify and highlight listed or registered heritage buildings alongside the river corridor through the use of interpretation panels and/or lighting, in order to feature their historic relationship with the river.

Prepare and hand out a guideline booklet that will inspire and encourage the owners of land and buildings alongside the river corridor and will thus help them to achieve the Council’s aims to the benefit of everyone.