I am delighted to be here for this special gathering hosted by the Property Council of New Zealand and sponsored by the Auckland Sustainable Cities Programme. As part of the Year of the Built Environment, this event marks the first formal gathering of the Auckland signatories to the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol. It is heartening to see you taking up the challenge - responding to the protocol and giving us an opportune occasion to release the Value of Urban Design research report.

Auckland, like no other area in New Zealand, has rallied to the Protocol’s vision to make NZ towns and cities more successful through quality urban design. You have shown your support in concrete ways – in fact six members of the Urban Design Advisory Group are from Greater Auckland and have been crucial to the development of the Protocol. Auckland councils, developers, professionals and sector organisations also make up over one third of the leading signatories to the Protocol.

I know Greater Auckland faces many challenges in providing quality urban design. You have rapid growth, complex transport issues, a dynamic economy, and sky rocketing numbers of new buildings, combined with a very diverse community. Auckland stands out as the most important part of New Zealand for setting the standard of quality urban design.

I am encouraged by the many initiatives underway that put urban design as the number one priority. These actions include Auckland City’s recent Mayoral Task Force on Urban Design, which recommends accelerating good development and saying no to bad design. The well-established Urban Design Panel provides a model for all New Zealand of a collaborative approach to creating a better environment for our cities.

The growing list of development projects throughout the greater region all have urban design central in their planning and implementation. Examples include Flat Bush in Manukau City, the Northcote Central project, and the Henderson and New Lynn Town centre redevelopments. The property sector is also playing a key role in quality design projects like the Chancery, and the Beaumont Quarter in Auckland. The Harbour View housing development in Waitakere City is a great example of a council working in partnership with the private sector to achieve quality design - and we need to see more examples of this happening throughout the country.

To help you promote the benefits of urban design in these and other projects, I am pleased to be able to release the Value of Urban Design report. The Ministry for the Environment has commissioned this report, with support from the Auckland Regional Council and the Wellington City Council.

The report draws from over 200 international studies on the social, economic and environmental benefits of urban design. I have taken three key messages from the report.

The first is that quality urban design offers significant benefits across the board. We all benefit from urban design – and value it because it improves our quality of life. Well designed buildings, public spaces and their connecting paths and streets work together to make places look and feel good to those using them. They can become the focus of trade, enterprise and innovation, and can help attract skilled workers, residents and tourists. Good urban design is also linked with safer and more secure cities and towns and can offer health benefits through increased exercise.

The second message is that Quality urban design is profitable. This is the good news for property developers. The environments being created by you now are the inheritance of the wider community. Well-designed urban projects can generate higher returns, especially when you take a longer-term view. High quality design may involve more investment upfront, but generally this pays off over the lifetime of the building or place. The opposite is equally true. Poor urban design may lower the quality of life, limit employment opportunities and generate a wide range of unsustainable costs for the city as a whole.

A third message I have taken is that as living densities increase, quality urban design becomes even more essential. This is particularly relevant to Auckland Regional Growth Strategy, which identifies that increased density is needed for the future growth of Auckland.

I am excited to see you all united in your support for a better-designed Auckland. This kind of integrated approach is essential to achieving better quality urban design.

The Value of Urban Design report also highlighted this fact. My challenge to you is to continue this level of leadership, as this collaboration will be fundamental to making our towns and cities more successful.

As the first NZ Minister responsible for Urban Affairs, I pledge my continued support for the Auckland region as it seeks to realise its vision.

Finally I would like to thank the NZ Property Council and the councils involved in the Auckland Sustainable Cities Programme for organising and hosting this event – and I commend all of you here today for working together to create a valued urban environment.