Auckland councillors yesterday farewelled the days of traditional single houses for a new era featuring apartment living.

There are 17 people in the running for the Auckland Council's top job.

Auckland councillors have voted by the narrowest of margins to stop housing being built on the Crater Hill volcano at Papatoetoe.

A wooden carving commissioned as part of a regional public art programme has been vandalised.

Unless last-minute candidates step up today, many councils cannot fill positions.

Four new candidates have joined the Auckland Council mayoralty race, with less than 24 hours to go until nominations close.

Auckland councillors have relaxed rules to make it easier for developers to build houses outside the rural urban boundary.

A meeting to make final decisions on a new blueprint for Auckland took a major twist this morning when members of the Maori Statutory Board opted out of the process.

COMMENT: Let's hope this election we might see some long-standing or well-known names step down and some new brooms.

Council officers release "major policy shifts" to the latest draft of the Unitary Plan.

A proposal to build homes on one of Auckland's most prized volcanoes looks set to be rejected by Auckland councillors.

Labour MP Phil Goff vows to cut fat, introduce road charges and cap rates rises at 2.5 per cent if he wins the Auckland mayoralty in nine weeks.

Falling scaffolding and a dropped hammer are among five "near misses" on the multi-million-dollar fix-up job to Auckland Council headquarters.

A smoking ban in open spaces, such as footpaths, civic squares and beaches, is to be investigated by Auckland Council.

COMMENT: There's a cargo cult hysteria erupting over the magical cure-all abilities of Auckland Council's proposed unitary plan.

Regulation is hard to get right. The political climate tends to swing from excessive freedom to excessive restriction or vice versa.

Auckland Council is not saying if it holds investments in soft drink, alcohol and tobacco companies only days after it purged fizzy drinks at its leisure centres.

A new council regulation requiring charter boats to have a liquor licence will create a dangerous "pub-like" environment when they are docked.

A huge jump in more intensive housing permitted in central Auckland may be the breakthrough frustrated first home buyers have been looking for.

Minimum dwelling sizes, density limits and other development controls have been deleted from the new recommended rulebook for Auckland.

A couple who moved from London to raise their young family in New Zealand are "devastated" by the latest plan.

Auckland has made heavy weather of its plain need for dense development.

Watch NZ Herald Focus: Auckland's Unitary Plan is the new rulebook telling people what can be built where and how high. Aucklanders will be able to go the Auckland Council website, type in their address and find out what the or Unitary Planmeans for them.

Watch NZH Focus: The future look and feel of Auckland will become clearer today when a new rulebook is released.

Bernard Orsman talks with Aucklanders about their hopes and aspirations for the future of the city.

COMMENT: The Auckland mayoralty is a huge job and the election should be based on talent and who has the best skills to get results.

Businesses have blasted Auckland Council's unnecessary red tape which they say is holding them back and causing costly delays.

Bill English is optimistic the Auckland Council will make good decisions when final recommendations for the Unitary Plan are given to councillors.

A blueprint to build more houses on smaller sections for Auckland's ballooning population is days away from being unveiled.

Mayoral candidates Vic Crone, Phil Goff, John Palino and Mark Thomas squared off at a debate in South Auckland tonight.