A global expert in revitalising cities says Auckland needs to campaign to bring back workers, visitors and students to the city centre and is behind much of the world.
The third annual Auckland's Future, Now conference was held today. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Hundreds of business and civic leaders met in Auckland today to discuss the city's future at an event hosted by the economic development agency Auckland Unlimited.
Mayor Phil Goff opened the day and acknowledged the irony of talking about a recovery when some were isolating.
"I'd like to say that we're coming out of the pandemic but I notice that a number of our speakers today can't be with us because like many in this room they have caught Covid."
It is the third annual Auckland's Future, Now conference.
The first was held in response to the national lockdown in 2020 to discuss the city's recovery, so how much has changed?
"Our challenge now is to promote a recovery that matches the rate of the impact that Covid had on us in a negative sense. We need to recover positively and the good news is that we are seeing that turnaround," Goff said.
Post pandemic city expert Greg Clark said many other cities in the world were half way through their recovery from the pandemic, including across the Tasman, with office workers and visitors returning.
They were Auckland's competitors, he said.
"A new competition is emerging, particularly with those countries that came out of restrictions quickly they have garnered a first mover advantage and in New Zealand you've got to think about what the second mover advantage could be."
Auckland needed to campaign to bring back office workers, students and visitors to the city centre, Clark said.
"We need to campaign to win back our tourists, our students, our office workers, our visitors and eventually of course our real estate investors and our migrants. We need to make it easy for people to come back to the city, we need to make it exciting."
Auckland during a level 4 Covid-19 lockdown, but post pandemic city expert Greg Clark says the city now needs to campaign to bring people back into the city centre. Photo: RNZ / Jordan Bond
Aliesha Staples manages a VR company based in Auckland but said she would probably be enticed to Australia if she were setting up now.
The Australian government had been quicker to see how the creative sector boomed during Covid-19, and here there was a dire shortage of skilled workers, she said.
"For the first time ever we're going to outsource overseas because we can't find the talent locally, so it's a bit of a negative comment but it's the right time because the pendulum is swinging and I don't think it's gone too far to correct it."
Business leader Phil O'Reilly said the country felt even more isolated from the rest of the world.
"We are the most disconnected that I've ever seen in the time that I've been dealing globally in business and that's now 30 years."
He is the former chief executive of Business NZ and said businesses needed to reconnect face to face.
"Two am zoom calls don't cut it. I'm going to get on a plane next week and actively reconnect. My friends in Europe and the US are poking the borax at me to check I'm still alive, so I'm going to get out and talk to them about Auckland and New Zealand and that we're back."
Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas would like to see a new group formed to revitalise the city centre and do the mahi.
"Give them the decision making responsibility, we don't need more consultation groups. We want to have the business people, the owners but also the not for profits, the City Mission and others at the table making the decisions to say we know what needs to be done with the city centre, give us the power to make that change."
Sustainability champion Izzy Fenwick urged Auckland leaders to include younger generations at the table.
'If Auckland can prioritise really thinking about and engaging with future generations' needs and expectations and building them in we will create a thriving city but if we don't, our next generation will find cities that do and we will lose them," she said.
"The loss of that critical talent will be felt by every industry here."