What's good, bad and ugly about living in Auckland – according to young people

Friday, 30 June 2023

A 9-year-old girl drew a playground, library and a pool because they were her favourite things about living in Auckland.

400 young people have had their say on what they think about living in Auckland.
Parks, playgrounds and the environment got the thumbs up.
Traffic, poor public transport and poverty were common concerns.
Many respondents said they drew strength from community or family connections, and hoped to make a positive contribution in future.

Young Aucklanders have had their say on what it’s like living in New Zealand’s largest city, with one child summing it up like this: “Auckland feels like a bus coming late.”

A newly released Auckland Council report, Voices of Children and Young People from Tāmaki Makaurau, interviewed more than 400 young people aged 3 to 24 about the aspects of the city they liked and what they wanted to change.

All accounts in the report were anonymous.

The good

The report found that it was easy for kids to open up about what they liked in the city – with communal places being a huge part of their positive feedback.

“They have lots of places to have fun, like the playground,” a 9-year-old girl from the Upper Harbour area said.

Auckland Council released a report looking into what children and young people in Tamaki Makaurau think about living in the region.

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The young people were passionate about Auckland’s environment and protecting it as a taonga.

A 19-year-old male from the Kaipātiki area said he found it really beautiful, the natural life and animals around the city, and that taking care of it was important.

Overall, young people said they felt connected to the local community – especially in south Auckland, west Auckland and Warkworth.

Many said poverty was a problem – one boy’s poignant response said he wished his family had more money.

“I am the change, I am people of South Auckland: brown, loud, cultural, I am Auckland,” one workshop participant said in a spoken word poem.

“In the future, I will stop pollution,” a 9-year-old said.

The bad

Public transport was a big area of conversation – with one 9-year-old likening traffic to the enemy.

“I value my patience as I wait for yet another bus that was cancelled,” one participant said.

Rainbow youth felt that in some areas of Auckland, they couldn’t be themselves.

“Out west… we can’t really hold hands or [we] will get called names in the street.”

One non-binary 20-year-old from the Papakura area said overpolicing was a problem and felt like if you were in a big group of Māori or Pasifika people, you would likely be pulled over.

Jack Scanlan has put many hours into researching how to change the narrative of south Auckland youth.

“It ruins the mood… I think it disconnects the youth.”

Costs and poverty were mentioned by a lot of young people, who were concerned for their struggling family – and their future.

One participant said they felt like south Auckland was always portrayed as dirty and poor.

The hope

Many young people’s dreams were closely connected with strong relationships, especially among family.

One 3-year-old looked forward to more superhero adventures with his mum.

Another enjoyed “being around… my cat Zoey”.

Many reported finding strength in the friends around them, or in their faith.

An 11-year-old hoped that Puhinui would become a safer community and that every person, “unique or different”, would have the same rights.

“But I also wish to be a great example for our upcoming brown people, for we lack soulful role models growing up,” another participant said.

Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick said young people see the world with clarity and integrity – and many of the ideas they thought of in the report align with evidence-based solutions that work around the world.

It was gut-wrenching to see children as young as 8 being aware of the poverty they were in, she said.

People pretend that politics, and the change that can come from it, is way more complicated than it is, Swarbrick said, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

The really positive thread of the report was the emphasis the young people put on community and family, she said.

Swarbrick issued a challenge to adults: “If you want a better future for your young people, you have to listen to them.”