New Zealand Eliminates Parking Minimums and Height Limits to Increase Urban Infill

Once again, New Zealand shows the way! The national government's new urban development policy will eliminate off-street parking requirements and remove low height-limits near transit stations to encourage more efficient infill development.

1 minute read

July 28, 2020, 6:00 AM PDT

By Todd Litman


New Zealand Bus Transit

Auckland street scene. | Natalia Ramirez Roman / Shutterstock

"In a dramatic move to reshape New Zealand’s towns and cities, the Government will stop councils from imposing height limits of less than six-storeys and force them to accept developments with no carparks (i.e., off-street parking)," reports Henry Cooke.

"Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development, quietly released on [July 23, 2020], aims to increase the density of housing in urban centres by setting rules for planning decisions made by local councils," adds Cooke.

"The overall intention of the plan is to dramatically increase housing development in urban areas – particularly housing that is very close to public transport. In all urban areas with more than 10,000 people, district plans will not be allowed to include minimum car parking requirements, other than for accessible carparks."

More details are available by clicking on the link for the source article.

Thursday, July 23, 2020 in Stuff

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