AUCKLAND'S NEW PLAN - THE NEED FOR BALANCE

There's no doubt - the argument for a better urban environment, not totally dominated by traffic planning  is winning!  What's happening in Shortland/Fort Sts, Darby St and Aotea Square is great.  But then so too is the new Northern Motorway to Puhoi.
Reading the lastest Discussion Document on a City Centre Masterplan, you could be forgiven for thinking people in cars have no place in it!  But to treat the private car as a 'pariah' is to fly in the face of history and Auckland's culture.
I suggest city spaces (roads etc) need to be graded into:

• Spaces like Aotea Square - pedestrians only except for service and civic needs.
• Shared space - like Darby St etc - a managed equality.
• Pedestrian predominant road - like Queen St.
• Vehicle predominant road - like Symonds St.
• A motorway - vehicles only except for emergencies and service.

Then urban design, landscape, architectural and traffic engineering skills can be applied in the right balance.
The goal of better urban space is indisputably right - what's needed is the balance that comes from wisdom rather than wholesale embracing popular trends.