This series will profile the people who make Christchurch tick, give a voice to the region’s diverse communities and debate how the city can best accommodate its growing number of residents while examining the issues facing the city. Video / NZ Herald
OPINION
This is a big day for Ōtautahi Christchurch as we will learn the fate of Te Kaha, the multi-use arena planned for the central city. From an economic development point of view, the stadium is not a game-changer: analysis shows that such stadiums don't produce a positive return on investment. But without a new, larger stadium, ChristchurchNZ's job of attracting major events to the city becomes much harder. As the city's experts on major events and urban development, we submitted in favour of building the stadium. But whichever way the decision goes, we'll still be battling hard to draw more events, more vibrancy and more economic impact to Christchurch.
From my first five months leading Christchurch's economic development agency, I see two underlying fundamentals about ChristchurchNZ. First, our annual budget is relatively small for an agency that is doing as much as we are, and second, we have a massive remit. Our job is to catalyse economic opportunities for the City, and to do this we have a very wide scope of work on behalf of the ratepayers of Christchurch, who are our ultimate customers.
ChristchurchNZ was formed five years ago by combining the functions of Canterbury Development Corporation, Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism, and the major events team from Christchurch City Council. We also inherited responsibility for the Christchurch Antarctic Office, International Education, and have since launched the City's film office, Screen CanterburyNZ and taken on an urban development function.
Ali Adams is the chief executive of ChristchurchNZ. Photo / Supplied
ChristchurchNZ is spread too thin, so I want to guide you through our vision. We are a sustainable economic development agency, which means that alongside growing GDP, we have to consider the environmental, social, and community outcomes of our work for Christchurch. This fits with the four economic wellbeings our government is focusing on (social, economic, environmental and cultural) and drives our strategic outcomes, which are to grow Christchurch City's high-value decent work; productivity and GDP output; resilience and sustainability of enterprise and businesses; attractiveness of Christchurch to key audiences; and livability.
How do we achieve these outcomes? First is business and investment attraction. Between our new, future-proofed stock of Class A office buildings, a talent pipeline that draws on four tertiaries, our relatively affordable housing and a fantastic lifestyle, we have a compelling proposition for drawing businesses and investment from across Australasia.
Te Pae the Christchurch Convention Centre. Photo / ChristchurchNZ
Our business growth work is focused on high-value, high-growth potential industry clusters where Christchurch has genuine competitive advantages. These include Aerospace, Food, Fibre & Agritech, and our status as one of five Antarctic gateways. We grow these sectors with incubators and industry challenges that both draw from and feed into our talent pipelines and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs who can build Christchurch's next unicorn.
Of course, to attract business and investment we must develop our workforce. In the full employment scenario of today, that means upskilling and educating the underemployed about the possibilities, as we are currently doing with our PowerUp campaign to draw more women into the workforce. It also means actively lobbying the Government to increase skilled migrant visas, especially in the manufacturing and high-tech sectors.
The latest arrow in our quiver of economic development tools is our Urban Development team. This means helping the private sector have access to opportunities and leveraging public-sector infrastructure to promote economic growth. For example, imagine how some creative placemaking could transform a route from a new stadium to the heart of the city's hospitality zone to create a world-class entertainment hub. That will take a lot of coordination between the private sector and the City Council, and that's where Urban Development as the third leg of the stool links the private and public sectors.
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Photo / ChristchurchNZ
That leads us to events and city attraction. In some ways these are the shiny things that get the most attention for ChristchurchNZ because they are so visible. But they can also drive long-term, sustainable economic development. Look at business events, which are streaming back to the city now that borders and new venues are open. The return on investment for business events is seven to one, and business event visitors spend three times as much as a visitor for an All Blacks test. Of course, an All Blacks test, which we are thrilled to host in August after six long years of our bids being rejected, has other benefits for the city in the sense of resident pride and how our city is perceived around the world. These major events attract millions of eyeballs, and given some of the global headlines our city has endured in recent years, being seen as a vibrant, modern, attractive and brand-new city that is home to world-class talent and world-class events is a vital foundation for business, investment, and talent attraction.
That's a lot on our plate. We need to do fewer things, and well. We need to focus on opportunities of scale, whether that means concentrating our resources on fewer, larger events, like we did with the Women's Cricket World Cup 2022, or doubling down on the most promising growth sectors of the economy.
Underpinning all our efforts to bring new economic activity to the city is the importance of retaining and nurturing the businesses and talent we already have. Christchurch is full of passionate entrepreneurs and residents who love living here. We all need to be telling that story so that people around New Zealand and the globe understand that our second-largest city has been rebuilt as the most modern, liveable, hi-tech city in the country and a place that is roaring back. And I can't wait to share some of those stories with you.
