Ron Carter: Auckland needs national backing

The Treasury's findings that Auckland is leading higher incomes and standards of living for New Zealanders wherever they live are a breath of fresh air among the stale arguments bashing the city.

We've heard it for years. Auckland costs the country too much. It steals people and income away from the regions. It's a transport nightmare, crime-ridden, and the rest of the country foots the bill for its excesses.

It is high time we laid these arguments to rest. Auckland is a great city, a beautiful city, and an increasingly successful city.

Top cities around the world have reversed thinking that cities are a burden. This new awareness places our major cities - Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch - at the centre of New Zealand's success story.

In today's global reality, it is the world's major cities, rather than countries, that compete for talented people and visitors, new business and investment, and events.

The argument is simple.

Auckland plays a unique role for New Zealand not just because it is the biggest city and has the highest concentration of fast-growing business sectors, but because in an increasingly globalised world, Auckland is New Zealand's gateway to the international economy.

The cities which have seen extraordinary renaissance, such as London, Barcelona, Bilboa, Toronto, Melbourne and Brisbane, are proof that cities can, and do, change their fortunes, transforming their regions and nations into places where people want to live and work, visit, and do business.

It has made sense that governments - local, central and state - have made investments in the places most likely to make an impact on the prizes needed for prosperity.

It is no longer a matter of the regions and capitals competing domestically against one another. The successful cities have relegated parochialism to the sporting field.

The urban versus rural and public versus private divide is replaced with a sense of purpose and new ways of working to attract people and investment internationally.

It would be foolish to ignore some significant challenges Auckland must tackle on the way to featuring as an "A" list city.

Urban growth and funding for investment in infrastructure still need serious action. The match of skills to the needs of the economy, and educational achievement in all our diverse communities, are significant roadblocks. A winning combination of cultural facilities and events is also yet to be seen.

For all that, there a number of projects reshaping Auckland: the extensions at the Auckland Museum, the downtown Arena and Britomart precinct, and the universities' two new business schools.

We have a new resolve among city mayors about sustainable urban design and liveable cities. A vision for Auckland's waterfront and plans for the western reclamation are now public. The transformation of Sylvia Park, the busway and other transport investments, and Pacific Arena are clearly visible from Auckland's motorways.

But on their own, they are not enough. There are three key ingredients that propel a city to success: a bold agenda, leadership and collaboration.

In London, Toronto and Melbourne, bold agendas were tightly targeted. They delivered a potent combination of "signature" initiatives to transform these cities and generate new wealth for reinvestment. Action plans targeted a range of local bugbears - funding, transport, housing, waterfront projects, tourism, education, poverty, arts and culture, events, environmental protection, crime and community.

This all sounds remarkably familiar.

In Melbourne the state Government invested in the combination of an exhibition centre, CityLink and other transport and airport improvements, the Docklands regeneration, and refurbished arts and culture facilities to draw tourists and events.

Where gaps between communities slowed achievement, the Canadian Government and Toronto brought in a new fiscal deal for cities, tackled housing, education, and services for new migrants, revived tourism, and also accelerated transport and waterfront programmes.

Leadership came from across the board - from organisations such as London First, the Mayor of London's agency, the British Deputy Prime Minister's Office, Toronto's City Summit Alliance, Canada's Prime Minister's Advisory group, the Committee for Melbourne and Victoria's State Premier. It was coherent, and distinguishable by the way decision-making became "decision taking". Local and national leadership is vital.

An action agenda for Auckland (Toronto called theirs "Enough Talk") means business, non-profit groups, tertiary institutions, central and local governments working from a common perspective.

It means treating Auckland as a major asset for the country, devising a clear plan, and investing efforts accordingly. Concerted local leadership is essential but so is a supportive central government. Auckland and the Government are inescapable partners if Auckland is to become an even more productive contributor for New Zealand.

It is already an attractive international city. It has natural beauty, it is increasingly accessible, its people are diverse, and it draws on New Zealand's innovative tradition to market and process the best that this country has to offer.

There is no better time than 2006 for this approach to happen. Sustaining Auckland's success has to be a national priority.

* Sir Ron Carter is chairman of the Committee for Auckland, a non-profit trust.