Inner-city living fascinates

Press, 2 November 1989, Page 33

Inner-city living fascinates

There can be few local architects who are quite as evangelical about the inner city as Mr Alun Wilkie, of Alun Wilkie Architects Ltd. The inner city and

areas bordering provide Alun with an area for projects • he rates as “superb.” One of the problems he perceives as having held back development of the

inner city for so long is the close proximity to so much good housing stock close by in areas such as Merivale. “This has tended to make the inner city less

arresting than is perhaps the case in other New Zealand cities,” he says. For inner city dwellers Alun Wilkie believes there are many other benefits other than just close

physical proximity to their workplace. There is also the growing sophistication of the city with inner city living providing ready access to varied entertainment, the markets and the everexpanding choice of quality restaurants.

All in all he rates the area as “an interesting physical environment.” Development of the inner city is critical if suburban sprawl and the Los Angeles desolation of automobile-based cities overseas is to be avoided, he believes.

"Los Angeles is a good example of a city built for the car, not for people. The only way to reduce the negative effect of the automobile is to introduce more dense lifestyles clustered around the place of residence, employment and recreation,” he says.

He believes environmental awareness will become acutely important in all areas of life by the 1990 s and that the only factor exempting New

Zealand from some of the probleems apparent overseas is the low population density. The jewel in the crown of the inner city is Hagley Park, he believes.

“The setting aside® of Hagley Park by the city founders was a brilliant decision,” he said.

“It is absolutely unprecedented to have land of that quality and value just four blocks from the city centre.”

One problem he and other architects are faced with is that the residential function of the inner city has not been thoroughly evaluated since the zone was established. Another problem is that of grappling with the laws of physics to get more people living in the inner city while there is a distinct backlash against vertical housing projects.

He believes that eventually these issues will be resolved and that the revitalisation of inner city living has only begun to pick up pace.