Water Edge 2016, being held from 15 to 17 November in Auckland, New Zealand, is hosted by Panuku Development Auckland in association with Auckland Council and The Waterfront Centre (Washington DC, USA).
It will bring together waterfront development leaders from 14 international cities – Europe, the US and Canada, Asia, and the South Pacific – to exchange knowledge and strengthen the growing network of informed and connected industry leaders.
Rod Marler, Panuku Director Place Shaping, says the previous symposium in 2014 led to valuable relationships and an increased awareness of the complexity involved in creating outstanding urban waterfronts.
“From discovering the tourism drivers that helped shape Capetown’s waterfront, to insights into the funding of mega waterfront projects in Singapore, as well as Hong Kong’s reclamation story, so much was gained during the last symposium.”
Marler says that Charles Norris’s huge experience in waterfront development is highly relevant to Auckland, which is currently undergoing the largest waterfront regeneration in New Zealand.
As an architect and urban designer, Charles Norris has over 40 years of professional experience in urban design, architecture, and waterfront planning for numerous waterfront projects in a variety of US and international settings.
He has also contributed to numerous innovative water transportation and port planning projects including ferry transit plans and terminals; port facilities, climate change and sea level rise resilience strategies, urban waterfront plans, public access and harbour walks; gaining recognition as an expert in the fields of passenger water transit systems and harbour planning.
Auckland has two harbours, the Waitemata and the Manukau – a sea-based city. Marler says there a clear economic imperative for Panuku to take climate change seriously as, on behalf of Auckland Council, it owns over $550 million worth of assets on the Waitemata Harbour comprising public spaces, marina assets and commercial property. By 2022, it expects to have completed the delivery of $440 million worth of public sector infrastructure investment to leverage what will amount to over NZ$1 billion of private sector investment.
Charles Norris’s current projects include a sustainable ferry plan for the Cranberry Isles in Maine, the Municipal Harbour Plan for the central Boston waterfront, ongoing ferry transit planning for Boston Harbour, and public advocacy for climate change preparedness in eastern Massachusetts ports.
The Water Edge 2016 programme is based on four key themes: Living by the water, Using the water, Reconfiguring the water edge, and Resolving dilemmas on the water.
Attendees will share their city’s waterfront redevelopment journeys and discuss each theme during this highly participative event.
Full details of the symposium are available at www.advancewateredge.com
