Extract

Introduction

PUBLIC LIFE AND THE CITY 

WHAT IS A PUBLIC LIFE SURVEY?

Public Life Surveys (PLS) are a method of observing and registering the day-to-day movements and activities of people as they move about the city - the routes they walk, the places they visit, the activities they engage in, and the length of their stay.

The methodology for these surveys was established in the 1960’s by renowned Danish Architect, Jan Gehl, who realised that the human dimension within public spaces was being overlooked by urban planners.

Public space - streets, squares, parks and reserves - is a city’s literal common ground where people come together and where most human exchange occurs. Since the roll-out of the private motor car however, the design of the urban form began to focus on vehicle movement and subsequently overlooking the function
of the city as a social place.

The advent of the PLS - a simple method of observing and registering the day-to-day movements and activities of people within the city centre - marked a shift back towards people-oriented city planning.

AUCKLAND’S JOURNEY

Auckland’s own PLS journey kick-started in the Autumn/Winter of 2010, when Jan Gehl and his team carried out the first PLS for the city centre. The data gathered at that time established a base line for the city and helped to inform numerous major city centre projects, including the acclaimed City Centre Masterplan. 

In the winter of 2015, the survey was repeated, and in 2016, a summer PLS helped to frame the seasonality of public life in the city centre. Together, these surveys showed catagorically that public life in the city centre had well and truly exploded since 2010.

A follow up survey in 2020 was thwarted by the Covid 19 pandemic, however a ‘lite’ survey, following the last of the Covid 19 ‘Lockdowns’ was undertaken in the summer of 2022. The results of this survey showed that public life, at least in the manner to which the city had become accustomed, had largely evaporated. On the flip side however, this survey also categorically illustrated the value of the city’s parks and open spaces, with residents flocking to these areas for respite and socialisation - albeit from a safe distance.

PUBLIC LIFE TODAY

The last ten years have seen tremendous change in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland city centre. Prime waterfront land has been reclaimed for public use, large scale public transport projects have been initiated and the residential population has more than doubled.

Cultural appreciation towards public space is also continuing to shift. The notion that quality public space is a ‘nice-to-have’ has long moved on, replaced instead with the acknowledgment that it is central to the wellbeing of people and the prosperity of the urban environment. In acknowledgment of this, Auckland Council continues to monitor the city centre’s public spaces, measuring changes to public life to once again reflect how far the city centre has come, and help to inform changes yet to come. ...

August 2024

See also

Auckland Design Manual

Tāmaki Makaurau Public Life Survey