Stadium-led urban waterfront regeneration : a possibility for Dunedin?

Abstract

In February 2007, a proposal was unveiled for a new stadium at the northern end of Dunedin's urban waterfront. This thesis considers the wider built environment effects which could arise if the new stadium proposal is pursued by the Dunedin City Council, with a specific focus on urban waterfront regeneration.

The aim of the thesis is evaluate the mechanisms which can lead to stadia acting as catalysts for urban regeneration. Furthermore, it considers whether these mechanisms would be effective in a small, peripheral city such as Dunedin. In addition, it seeks to determine whether any urban regeneration occur in a way which is socially and environmentally responsible.

The first stage of the research was to undertake a review of the relevant literature. This provided a base of ideas and knowledge of cities where stadium-led urban regeneration had occurred in the recent past. The next research stage involved a multiple case study examination of three locations in Australasia where stadium-led urban waterfront regeneration had recently occurred. From these two research stages, the possibility of stadium-led urban regeneration occurring in Dunedin was assessed, and best practice lessons were suggested for any urban regeneration which might occur.

The research found that new stadia ignite urban regeneration processes through stadium events creating a people flow. Suggestions arising from the research were that stadium-led urban regeneration planning should occur in conjunction with the planning for a new stadium, including the simultaneous undertaking of consultation for both the stadium and regeneration. Connections from central city areas to the regenerating waterfront area should also be planned from the outset of a waterfront stadium proposal. Suggestions made to achieve social responsibility include providing space for potentially gentrified communities elsewhere in a city, or finding a way to have differing activity types within the regenerating space, as an attempt to try and limit the negative gentrification and displacement that urban regeneration is known to sometimes cause, although there are issues with both of these suggestions. Ecologically sustainable features should be used in the regeneration development, including the need a new stadium to ensure environmental responsibility.