THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 1910. OUR CITY AND ITS CITIZENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14345, 15 April 1910, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 1910. OUR CITY AND ITS CITIZENS.

During his visit to the United Kingdom and to the Continent, Mr. Arthur Myers has closely observed the commendable modern tendency to make a city the true home of its citizens, and has returned strengthened and encouraged in his belief that municipal authorities should carefully and conscientiously direct and plan for inevitable expansion. Upon the necessity for this " townplanning" alkgood citizens of Auckland should be in hearty concurrence and agreement, for, as Mr. Myers has pointed out through the columns of the Herald, our city is going to have a population of 500,000, and it is comparatively easy at the present time to take steps for its beautiful development which in the future can only be achieved by the expenditure of immense sums, or may be altogether impossible. Mr. Myers suggests that a small committee might be set up to draw up a plan for the future Greater Auckland, including " the formation and maintenance of the roads which carry the principal traffic to and from our city within a radius of, say, 10 miles." This may seem an ambitious suggestion, but Auckland has a great future before it and only by our citizens being sanguine and ambitious on its behalf can we avoid many errors and mistakes, and secure the great reward of witnessing an expansion of which, individually and collectively, we can be proud. Everybody knows that the very natural inability of the worthy founders of Auckland to conceive the wonderful progress of the past half-century, and their consequently excusable failure to make the adequate provision within their power for roads, parks, and other public advantages, has resulted in. an unsystematic and chaotic expansion. Our streets are generally narrow and not planned as they might have been; our parks are insufficient for the wholesome recreation of those who reside in the more populous areas; our city school grounds are lamentably restricted; and we lack the majestic avenues which would show to the best advantage the kaleidoscopic beauties of a situation which would easily give Auckland place among the beautiful cities of the world. But it is useless to regret the mistakes of the past unless we strenuously endeavour to avoid repeating them in the future, and it is still possible to amend many shortcomings and to so plan now that the city will pursue its growth and expansion in a manner 'worthy of and fitted to its surroundings. The Grafton Bridge is an example of good civic work which is both useful and beautiful, but it will be incomplete unless, it is made part of an intelligible and concerted scheme, having- for its ultimate purpose the driving of convenient and attractive thoroughfares wherever they are required by our citizens and the overcoming, by engineering devices, of the topographical difficulties which abound in our midst. Such a scheme cannot be taken in hand and completed immediately, but it may be prepared and worked to, as Mr. Myers suggests, with the result that such expenditure as we can afford would be " devoted to the execution of broad and carefully thought-out plans."

Among necessary features of any reasonable plan for the future development of Auckland must be included the making of a great Esplanade along the waterfront, and a fine driveway from the eastern suburbs to and through the Waitakerei Reserve. Both are accepted among the things to be accomplished in the future, but it is to be feared that they do not occupy the place they deserve in our civic conceptions. For the energetic pushing forward of the proposed Esplanade much can be urged and no tangible reason can be offered in opposition. It would transform into a beautiful and popular resort, accessible to, and beneficial to, many thousands of our citizens, the far stretching waterfront which is the most precious possession of Auckland. From Ponsonby to the eastern limits of the South Shore it would present to the incoming traveller an exceptional charm, while it would encourage and habituate our own people to the constant enjoyment of the scenery of Waitemata under the pleasantest conditions. Unfortunately little is being done to hasten the erection of an Esplanade which would be the boast of all Aucklander's and the envy of every visitor, and it would be well if a revival of civic interest could be inspired by the action of citizens

who have the welfare of Auckland at heart. A great driveway to the ranges, passing the lovely volcanic hills which gem the isthmus and opening up the bush scenery which is to be preserved inviolate in our mountainous plea-sure ground, would similarly give wholesome enjoyment to tens of thousands, while traversing as a magnificent- avenue suburban districts certain to be densely populated in the comparatively near future. These are only examples of what should be done to make Auckland the happy and attractive home of the vast multitude gathering around its commercial and industrial activities. We should have no mean streets, no wretched by-ways, no stifling and degrading slums. We can only fight • successfully against mean streets and stifling slums by setting before our civic eyes the scheme of a City Beautiful, traversed by majestic thoroughfares, served by broad Esplanades and Driveways, and unsoiled by that civic indifference which disgraces the rich and degrades the poor. The true planning of a city conduces to the health and happiness of every citizen, man, woman, and child, for it brings fresh air, spacious parks, open water, and lovely scenery within the reach of all, and does not confine these essential things to those who can turn their backs upon crowded towns and pursue the beautiful and the wholesome in distant places and in foreign lands. The planning of Auckland, destined to be the great city of the Dominion, is a work worthy of the laborious thought of its ablest sons and we trust that Mr. Myers, who is awake to its importance, will find the opportunity to assist his fellow-citizens with the fruits of his experience here and of his observations abroad. i