NZPI - Urban growth, climate change and water quality key issues for 2019
Urban growth, climate change and water quality are some of the biggest issues facing our planners in 2019.
These and other hot topics such as future food security, driverless cars and Maori involvement in freshwater planning are up for discussion at NZPI’s annual conference in April.
NZPI senior policy advisor Joel Cayford says planners are in the spotlight in high-growth cities, as they work to avoid urban “poverty traps” and overcome infrastructure challenges.
“Urban planning challenges we face every day include stormwater damage of waterways, providing adequate housing and infrastructure such as schools, amenities and transport,” says Joel.
“There’s also the challenge of finding ways to regenerate declining suburbs.
“We’re planning for future cities where top of mind considerations include big data, robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and 3D-printing. We need to think carefully about how people, government and business can function together in a highly interconnected environment.”