We’re transforming your city centre to be a place that is thoughtfully designed and reflects the changing way we use our city as we grow.  It’s becoming a place where you can enjoy better connections and more places to explore, relax and play.   
  
Explore these new places with your family and friends.   

Galway Street

Galway Street has been transformed from a road corridor to a high-quality people focussed street. It is now a magical part of the city to explore – while you’re there enjoy the great shopping and food options that Britomart has to offer.

The laneway now connects Te Komititanga (the new city centre square outside the station) to Britomart and Takutai Square.

Open and accessible shared spaces like Galway Street will become key accessways for the increasing number of pedestrians moving between the station and various destinations throughout the city once the City Rail Link is complete.

Explore more of Auckland’s laneways.

Quay Street

Where our city centre meets the sea is Quay Street, the main road running parallel to Te Waitematā. This used to be a daunting street to try and cross to enjoy the waterfront, due to the four lanes of traffic that were flying by. That has all changed now.

Quay Street is a destination. Wider footpaths, a protected cycleway and a growing urban forest (ngahere) make this a great street for you to enjoy, as you wander along the waterfront, travel to or from the ferry terminal, or find a spot for lunch by the water.

Discover more things to do down at Quay Street and the waterfront this year.

Downtown waterfront

Auckland’s downtown has been transformed. The historic seawall has been strengthened to safeguard our city for another 100 years and the whole area has been re-designed to provide you with protected cycleways, charming laneways and spaces to meet with friends.   

Designed to resemble a tidal shelf, Te Wānanga floats above the harbour and offers shade, shelter and a great place to go from exploration to relaxation.   

Te Komititanga, a beautiful city square with room for people on the move and for those wanting a place  to stop and breathe the sea air. The paving design includes a whāriki or welcome mat, designed by mana whenua weavers to depict a woven harakeke (flax) mat that greets visitors to Tāmaki Makaurau.    

Find out more about what there is to see and do in our beautiful downtown and what’s new where Queen Street meets the sea.   

Wynyard Quarter

Wynyard Quarter is Auckland’s thriving waterfront neighbourhood. Built on reclaimed land, Wynyard Quarter just keeps getting better. It’s an urban oasis for you to spend time - walk, cycle, play or just relax.   

Discover the new Playline at Silo Park, an interactive playground made from repurposed pipes from the old Wynyard Quarter tank farm. The pipes have been cleaned up, painted yellow and transformed into a playground for the whole family.   

Relax in Amey Daldy Park, an open and accessible space in this people-friendly neighbourhood. This pocket park is part of the green connection that runs from Victoria Park, along Daldy Street and is perfect for lunch eaters and book readers.   

Find out all the ways kids can play at Wynyard Quarter.  

Te Komititanga

Breathe in the scale of this magnificent city square, a place for music, arts, light shows, buskers and festivals. Its name reflects the mixing of people, converging from multiple transport points, and the place where the waters of the Waitematā and Wai Horotiu stream merge. 

Look down and see 37,000 individual pieces of basalt pavers laid in a pattern by mana whenua artist Tessa Harris (Ngāi Tai Ki Tāmaki) and her team of weavers to depict a whāriki (welcome mat) made from harakeke (flax).

Karangahape Road

Discover the colour, charm, music, lights, nightlife, shops and new design elements on Karangahape Road, which celebrate the Māori adventurers who walked this ridgeline between harbours hundreds of years ago.

You can enjoy separated cycleways on both sides of the street, native planting and rain gardens that help filter the city’s stormwater. Take in the colourful design and public art on almost every corner.

Karangahape Road is now as vibrant as you, so find out about all the delightful moments you can enjoy.

Midtown

Midtown is the heart of the city centre and home to some of our most beloved cultural institutions and landmarks. Over the next decade the midtown regeneration programme will see the opening of New Zealand’s largest train station (Te Waihorotiu Station), and many streets upgraded to better suit the growing number of people moving around the city.   

Queen Street has been given a makeover from Mayoral Drive to Shortland Street. So, buckle up the bike helmets, and scoot along our new Waihorotiu path, and then veer away into a labyrinth of fascinating laneways – some new, some renewed, some ageing gracefully.  

Discover what’s coming for midtown.