City slow to back ethnic precincts

Auckland could be missing out on an opportunity to develop ethnic precincts which would add value to the region, says social scientist Professor Paul Spoonley.

Professor Spoonley, of Massey University, said Auckland was lagging behind in developing immigration policies compared with other cities where foreign-born people made up a high percentage of the local population.

In the Auckland region the percentage of people who were foreign born now made up about 32 per cent of the population, he said. That was now greater than Sydney whose foreign-born percentage was about 30 per cent.

Professor Spoonley said while the percentage had increased quite quickly, the country had not faced the issues that came with immigration by developing policy. "The result is a multicultural muddle."

Professor Spoonley said cities like Vancouver and Sydney had seen ethnic precincts as a good thing and really swung in behind them.

"They have recognised that having distinctive precincts, like a Chinatown for example, really adds something to the city."

Although migrant groups were becoming more visible in various parts of the region, the local authorities still hadn't seen the advantages of supporting them in the establishment of ethnic precincts, he said.

"Auckland is really behind the ball here."

He said New Zealand had focused on recruiting immigrants but had overall done much less than other countries after they arrived, with little attention to how well immigrants settled.

Language acquisition was the biggest problem and countries like Canada had invested significantly more than New Zealand in helping immigrants to learn English.

An Auckland City Council officer said the council did not try to create ethnic precincts but recognised they might develop on their own.

Pam Bourke, policy and planning manger in community planning, said such precincts worked well in some cities but their success depended on the size of the ethnic populations and that of the city overall.

Ms Bourke said such precincts can develop organically where people concentrated in areas because of affordability, existing populations and services like mosques.