May 8, 2006
By Neil Fraser
THROUGHOUT the world, cities are increasingly turning their focus inwards as they examine and benchmark themselves against other cities and their achievements.
How are they doing in terms of the lifestyle they offer their citizens and those they would like to attract; lifestyle relative to education, healthcare, transportation, housing, culture, sport and recreation? How are they doing in terms of business and industry and what levels of skills, knowledge and productivity do they offer? How are they doing in relation to other local cities? How are they doing in terms of the broader global environment; who are their competitors? What facilities and infrastructure is required to stimulate economic growth and investment, cultural and social development? What product and service specialisations are required?
Increasingly, the question is: what can they do to leverage themselves into the classification of world class, as if such status is some magic recipe.
If world-class cities are defined as urban centres that have direct, tangible effects on global affairs through socio-economic, cultural and/or political means, but are graded dependent on the degree of such effect, to what tier should a city aspire to, if at all – alpha cities such as London, Tokyo or New York; beta cities such as Sydney, Brussels or Seoul; or gamma cities such as Amsterdam, Montreal or Manila?
Auckland: Metro Project
These are the questions that Auckland, New Zealand, has been asking of itself through its Metro Project, the objective of which is "to transform the Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy from its current vision and platform into a set of action plans that are readily implementable". The project comprises four elements:
- A series of working papers, including a stock take of research projects, providing a baseline from which to work;
- Three work streams based around a productivity theme – people and skills development, business innovation and capability, and delivering world-class infrastructure;
- An international review of the above; and
- A symposium providing a public forum for consultation with delegates from business, industry and community.
The person chosen to assemble and lead the international review was Greg Clark, who is well known to many of us in Johannesburg through consultation on our own processes and institutions over a number of years. He is the chairman of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Forum of Cities and Regions; an adviser to the executive mayor of London; and an adviser on city and regional development in Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in Britain. He is highly knowledgeable – I would rate him as one of the world's leading urbanists.
Essentially practical and pragmatic, Clark has boundless energy and a great sense of humour. I was fortunate to have been asked to join his review team, together with Elizabeth Rodriguez from New York, Virginia Hamilton from Sacramento, Ian Bromley from Toronto and David Wilson from Auckland itself.
I have visited many cities in different parts of the world but this is the first time that I have done so with absolutely no prior expectations or pre-conceptions. In itself, that tells a story. The most I had previously seen of New Zealand had been its rugby and cricket venues through watching those sports on television. In a way this is probably because of its geographic location – it is very much on the rim of the South Pacific and, in our case, involves two long flights via Hong Kong, Singapore or Sydney.
But it is also relatively small – comparable South African figures are in brackets. The country's land mass is 268 680 square kilometres (1 219 090), with a population of 4 076 140 (48 061 805).
Auckland
Auckland, with a population of 1 352 700 (Joburg metro had a population of 3,2 million at last count but this is now probably nearly 4 million), is the largest conurbation and is home to a third of the country's population. It is not the capital city, which is Wellington. Auckland is, in fact, a large metropolitan region – more of a city-state except in governance – and comprises three main areas, the Northern and Western Sector, the Southern Sector and Auckland City in the centre.
The Northern and Western Sector encompasses Rodney District, North Shore City and Waitakere City, together with a population of 444 000, roughly a third of the region's population. Its economy is based on financial and business services, marine and tool manufacturing, bio-business and organics, tourism, education and the creative industries. A number of films have been shot here, the latest being The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
The Southern Sector comprises Manakua City, Papakura District and Franklin and has a population of 450 000 people, which is another third of that of the Auckland region. A third of New Zealand's vegetables are grown in this area, which is also home to the largest wine maker in the country – Villa Maria Estate – and the largest dairy farm in the country.
Auckland City is home to the other third of the region's population and
its CBD, as they call it, is the largest employment centre in the country, with about 66 000 workers in property and business services, finance, insurance and education. It has about 9 000 residents living in 3 771 dwellings (both 2001 census figures). It also has a large waterfront , of which is being redeveloped.
The history of the country is fascinating, particularly relative to its colonisation. The Polynesian Maori evidently first settled the Auckland region in about 1350. In 1840, the local Maori tribe, Ngati Whatua, entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which, according to the British, they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. The British immediately began the first organised colonial settlement. But that country's interpretation of this document did not – and still does not – accord with the Maori interpretation.
The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907. In the past number of years the government has sought to deal with longstanding Maori grievances and Maori tribes have and are being paid compensation for past injustices.
Maoris form about 8 percent of the country's population; Pacific Islanders 4,5 percent; Asiatics nearly 6 percent; the balance are Pakeha, or Europeans. At one meeting a slide depicted the city as the largest Polynesian city in the world, which I thought was so much more meaningful than "A world class city".
Minority groups
In some ways my week here has been accompanied by a feeling of déjà vu. I was constantly reminded of how great the changes have been in our country in a relatively short space of time. Apart from meetings specifically arranged for us with some of the Maori and Pacific Islander leaders and communities, neither they nor representatives of the rapidly growing Asiatic community attended the Metro Project meetings – nor did there appear to have been any clear consultation with these "minority groups".
The preponderance of attendees at the Symposium for Auckland, the climax of the week-long process in which we were involved, were white males – in suits and ties. It reminded me of South Africa 20 years ago. Yet the prime minister – with whom we had dinner, underlining the seriousness of the initiative – is a woman. All the people we met were warm, hospitable, generous and open in their desire to expose us to all the issues, good or bad.
The governance structures in New Zealand are complex, so much so that we had to ask for a diagram so that we could begin to understand the connections between the literally dozens of organisations and local and central government. Diagrams do not, of course, explain relationships and that is clearly another issue altogether. Suffice to say that there are four cities and three districts in the region centred on Auckland City, each with their own structures, including a number of economic development agencies, a regional council, a regional economic development forum, a variety of business organisations and the national government in a variety of forms.
Elections are held every three years, nationally and locally, which hardly provides the time to deal with substantive issues. While there appears to be a plethora of plans covering every possible issue, there is no single authority responsible for implementation, leading to a high degree of frustration – and to a severe lack of progress in delivery.
Auckland CBD
And what of the city, or rather the CBD, as they call the core area? We had very little time to explore so I can only give you my first impressions, which may not be that accurate. It is a beautiful setting, quite hilly – which I didn't expect – but showcasing the rather bland architecture that can be seen in most cities in the world. Somehow the built environment does not complement the natural beauty of the area to its greatest advantage.
The layout favours vehicles rather than pedestrians – getting across wide intersections on foot is quite hazardous. Pavements are wide and uncluttered but are generally finished with the same black tar macadam as the roads, which does not "lift" the public environment and makes it quite boring. The more recent development around the waterfront is to a far higher standard and, although lacking any major retail attractions, seems to be vibrant.
Well, a week of intensive listening will now lead to an "international team report" that we have to submit by the end of this month. For me, irrespective of a touch of flu, this has been an intense but enriching experience. This is a beautiful country, rich in indigenous cultures and certainly a country that I would love to spend some time exploring. But I left on the weekend, via Australia, where I'll spend a few days on the way home.
Ciao, Neil
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
