26: A Great Urban Beach
What if Auckland could grow a truly great urban beach? What would the ingredients for a great urban beach be?
Auckland has many great beaches and an outstandingly beautiful coastline. These are strong contributors to its high liveability ranking. But most of them are either suburban in setting or completely outside the city.
That is all well and good. But as Auckland grows and intensifies, there is a need, and will be even more so in the future, increased demand for beach life from a growing city populace. Remember the reports last summer of terrible car congestion to get in to the carpark at Long Bay?
Most big coastal cities cater to this demand with an urban beach, which I would define as one close in to the city and inner suburbs, with ideally great access by walking, cycling and public transport. That is to say, somewhere not too far away and which maximises access by means which gets the most people there with the least impact on the beach they are going to!
This provides a great basis for a people-dominated rather than a car-dominated beachfront, with generous space for walking and cycling. Such places in the world’s best beach cities also draw a dress circle of apartment living that reflects their great attractiveness becoming a part of the spectacle of promenade and public life on show.
We have the beaches. Do we want the city life to go with it?
Could this be the future for Takapuna?
Stuart Houghton 2014
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We’ve got one – it’s called Mission Bay. The Cafes and Bars are at the water’s level, instead of miles up a hill.
It just needs a really easy way to get there and remove a whole heap of traffic.
and davenport, just a quick hop on the ferry. okahu bay has potential
Narrowneck, Takapuna, Mission Bay. All are already our great urban beaches. They just need better connection with walking and cycling and their population centres.
Piha and Te Henga (Bethell’s) are also epic beaches belonging to the city, and I’d like to think about how we could open access to these, to the hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders who don’t drive, and to the tourists who are reliant on occasional and not-cheap buses to see and experience them.
Agreed! these beaches really need public bus connections, at the moment buses seem too focused on to/from city a service to piha and/or murawai/moari Bay and other beaches would definitely be something I would use.
Because more people at Piha and Bethells would make them better. Right…
Because North Piha is so crowded?
Swimming at North Piha is suicidal
It would be Mission Bay if only the road was diverted around the back instead of splitting the beach from the town. An easy fix that would improve traffic flow (less waiting at pedestrian lights), improve business (easier access to the shops from the beach and a more pleasant environment in which to linger) and set Mission Bay up for the next 100 years. Unfortunately I suspect that the relatively few houses that would be adversely affected are enough to scare off the council from suggesting this.
Light rail from Aotea to Takapuna would set this up well.
I think (Light) Rail and SkyPath would be needed otherwise it becomes hard to get to.
Mission Bay could work, however lack of dedicated transit corridors to get there may well rule it out.
All I can say is that I won’t even look in Mission Bay’s direction if it’s a public holiday or a Sunday. That place is a nightmare to get to or get out of any time the weather is nice and people aren’t at work.
What you meant to say was “a nightmare to get to in a car” – it’s not a problem on 2 legs or 2 wheels.
I would argue that its also a nightmare to get to by bus on busy weekends, and not so hot by bike either (although hopefully that changes soon). Just walking isn’t much use to anyone outside the neighbouring suburbs.
I’d like to congratulate the author or getting Copacabana, Bondi and Takapuna beach in the same sentence.
There is no comparison between any of the urban Auckland beaches and an international quality beach
but isn’t that the point of what Stuart is trying to say – “How can we make Takapuna an international quality beach, like Bondi and Copacabana?”
Takapuna is actually a very nice beach.
Sure is. Pity is is surrounded by carparks.
I would have thought the #1 criteria of a good urban beach was being a good beach
i.e. good sand, good gradient, good surf/wash, good water, good temperature
rather than the rest of the criteria noted
Those make good beaches, not good urban beaches, have you ever been to Bondi, or Manly, or even Surfer’s Paradise?
There is plenty of parking in Manly – all along North Steyne there are car parks between the road and the beach. Bondi has massive car parks next to the beach and the Esplanade in Surfers has car parking as well. Have you been to Australia Sailor Boy?
Been to all of the places I just mentioned, my experience is very different to yours apparently. The urban parts of those beaches are actually urban with very little carparking, humanised roads, and large boardwalks, nothing like Auckland’s ‘urban’beaches.
If you do build/renovate an urban beach, for goodness sakes, add some more rubbish bins. My biggest gripe about our parks is the absence of bins, and how the few bins that exist are overflowing.
>.<
Hmm maybe ohehunga? If they put the rail through with a station by the bridge, restore the wharf with shops and apartments. You still have the motorway through there and water quality has a way to go… but here is hoping
Well Holcim is going, so I wonder how much freight traffic Onehunga port is going to see from now? It could add more, and better apartments, right on the harbour if it is over as a port….?
Though as you say there’s still that vast and unpleasant highway.
Auckland has great urban beaches. Really, what more could you want? There’s not many places in the world that can offer what we have. I’m not from NZ, and have visited many cities around the world, but I can’t really think of anywhere that has so many great beaches so close to the city.
Yes, Takapuna Beach isn’t like Copacabana. But neither is Copacabana like Takapuna. Neither needs to change.
Takapuna needs to change, no beach in an urban place should be bordered by thousands of carparks. Rural beaches, yes, they need carparks to get to them, Takapuna no.
Bondi isn’t really the nicest beach, it’s just the popular easy to get to beach…the buses are really regular. However it is also spilt from the shops by a road like mission bay…oh wait we already have a Urban beach called mission bay! Just need to get the buses working properly, bonus is it’s even closer than Bondi is to the city so has more potential.
Perhaps a beach at the end of Queens Wharf?
If there’s any room..
Ferries and ships pass through that area, though.
For sure. It can be boarded in at water level so that passing wakes don’t wash the sand away.
Be fun for office workers and tourists. Lil ice cream stand, sunscreen shop…