Innovating Streets: co-design with the Mangere East community

Working with Auckland Transport, the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board and the Māngere East community to help more local people make the choice to walk, rather than drive.

The Boffa Miskell-led design team were appointed in January 2021. NZTA-Waka Kotahi funding for the delivery of the ‘Innovating Streets’ programme will finish at the end of June 2021; so in just six months, this project needs to have been designed, approved by AT and the Local Board, implemented, monitored, and evaluated post-completion to determine if it delivers on the desired project outcomes.

A requirement of Innovating Streets funding is that the design is generated through a community-led co-design process. To ensure meaningful community engagement would happen quickly and effectively, Boffa Miskell commissioned Mangere East (ME) Family Services (a charitable trust based in Mangere East) to act as our Engagement Partner. ME Family Services operate a community centre and pre-school facility, and greatly assisted the team in connecting to the local community to explain the intended project outcomes.

Some of the proposed pop-up solutions (pallet seats and tyre planters) will be fabricated locally from re-purposed materials sourced from the community, thus minimising transportation costs. In addition to offering up significant sustainability benefits, these initiatives also fulfil a social procurement function, using local skills and bringing central government money into the local economy.

Moving forward, Boffa Miskell will look for further opportunities to design and specify project components using re-purposed or locally produced materials. For this project, and others, we are constantly vigilant to find social procurement opportunities in all our work.

Find out more

Social procurement: an opportunity for lasting impact

For further information please contact John Potter