Auckland business and economic leaders are among those being urged to be brave and confront some of the city's biggest issues in the lead up to the local body elections.
Inequality, innovation and sustainability will be put under the spotlight in The Ballot Box series of debates organised by the University of Auckland Business School starting later this month.
Professor Greg Whittred, Dean of the Business School, says speakers are "allowed to be brave".
"The university has a role to play as a broker of ideas," he says. "When you come into the university you're allowed to be brave with your ideas and challenging - even confronting. But you are arguing about the ideas, not the people."
The series, which brings together business leaders, economists, academics, policy analysts and entrepreneurs, begins on August 30.
Whittred says developing a city where young people want to study, work and build a career is the challenge ahead for Auckland's new mayor and councillors as they begin to roll out the Unitary Plan.
"An innovative city attracts knowledge workers. It has a large education precinct located centrally and an environment where students are not only encouraged to stay - but want to stay.
"It's a city full of young professionals with venues and opportunities created to allow them to bump into each other, like innovation hubs and co-working spaces, collaborative spaces, and the kind of infrastructure that doesn't exist widely just yet.
"The amenities and quality of life in the city need to be truly cosmopolitan and appeal to the younger generation."
Whittred says cities like Boston, San Francisco and Dublin are good examples of places where "knowledge work" rather than manual work matter and where work is more innovative and creative than routine.
Auckland is making good progress with initiatives such as GridAKL, BizDojo, the Health Innovation Hub, and the university's own Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. But there is much more that can be done.
The series runs alongside the traditional mayoral debates, and Whittred says it is important for the university to focus on the issues, not personalities.
"It's an exciting line-up. Our innovation panellists have seen what truly creative, successful, innovative cities look like. They know about knowledge clusters and what happens when like-minded scientists, students, entrepreneurs and service providers co-create and co-locate.
"We will be surfacing ideas and testing their validity, and evaluating assertions in some kind of logical framework."
The first event "Auckland: The Inclusive City" on August 30 features economist Shamubeel Eaqub, Whai Rawa director Rangimarie Hunia, business school Associate Professor Susan St John, and Salvation Army social policy analyst Alan Johnson. They will discuss the extent of inequality in Auckland, how the social and economic impact of inequality threatens the city's future prospects, and what can be done.
The second event "Auckland: The Innovative City" on September 7 features inaugural Callaghan Innovation chief executive Dr Mary Quin, entrepreneur Greg Cross, Te Pūnaha Matatini director Shaun Hendy, and BizDojo co-founder Nick Shewring. They will talk about how to address Auckland's talent void, and harness innovation to develop a high-wage, high-skills knowledge economy.
The final event "Auckland: The Sustainable City" on September 22 features Institute of Directors president Michael Stiassny; Panuku Development Auckland senior advisor for sustainability Viv Heslop, Business School Professor Basil Sharp and business journalist Rod Oram.
For more information about The Ballot Box speaker series and to register for events, visit the Business School website.