Enhancing the Urban Community Resilience Through Street Retrofitting Interventions: A Case Study by Architecture Students and Academics in Auckland, New Zealand

Climate change has dramatically impacted the natural and cultural environment, and residential streets in suburban areas, which occupy up to 35% of suburban areas, are important for building community resilience. However, most of these streets were initially designed as car-dominated paved spaces, and are increasingly criticized as environmentally and socially unsustainable. This article focuses on enhancing urban community resilience in Auckland through street retrofitting interventions. The authors view streets as a cultural tool and a public space that can be used to bring communities together and encourage social interaction. Being a multicultural city, Auckland provides a unique challenge in creating street designs that work with the diverse identities of its communities. The authors present three student-built projects in Onehunga, Avondale, and Aurangua neighborhoods where they aim to create architectural interventions for the community to use. The design process involves close collaboration with the community to understand their particular ways of living and to provide them seating, shelter, and expression with spaces. The authors argue that this approach will help increase community engagement and a sense of pride in their public spaces. Overall, this paper highlights the importance of street retrofitting pop-up interventions in enhancing urban community resilience. It also shows how this can be achieved through a collaborative design process that reflects the desires and aspirations of the community. The success of these architectural interventions can act as a catalyst for community-based street retrofits that integrate environmental intervention with cultural solutions. It has the potential to transform car-dominated streets into vibrant and resilient public spaces that are proud by all cultures.