Capital Conversation: Their best shot – how Wellington can bounce back

Saturday, 7 September 2024

Wellington is experiencing a new wave of where-to-itis, compounded by rising unaffordability, a sluggish economic outlook, and widespread public service job cuts.

Einstein once said that if only one idea out of a thousand turned out to be good, he would be satisfied. So in the spirit of that sentiment, The Post asked a few locals to suggest one idea that could help pull the city out of its current funk.

Danish architect Jan Gehl has spent more than half a century looking at ways to build better cities.

His “Public Space Public Life” methodology is considered world-best practice, guiding people-centric transport and urban development projects around the globe.

Wellington couple decide to move overseas in a bid for opportunities away from New Zealand after public sector cuts.

A 2004 report by Gehl, commissioned by the Wellington City Council, came with some 100 recommendations – including waterfront boulevards along the quays, pedestrianising some streets, more green space, and a city-wide network of cycle lanes – and 30 pages of observations.

In 2021, Gehl’s company was again commissioned to identify opportunities to raise the urban quality and liveability of the capital ‒ this time by Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

The recommendations were similar to the first 100; grow a walking city on a strong foundation of public transport; introduce a Design Advisory panel to advise the city on how to improve the overall design and sustainability performance of the built form as well as reflecting the local culture, climate and history; build commuter parking stations at key transport nodes in the central city periphery to relieve the pressure on the central city.

Of course Gehl wasn’t to know that 20 years after that first report and despite some of his recommendations having been implemented, Wellington would be experiencing a new wave of where-to-itis, albeit compounded by rising unaffordability, a sluggish economic outlook, and wide-spread public service job cuts.

Wellington is not alone, nor is the issue a new one. In fact the the widely-held urban life cycle theory recognises that an individual city in general experiences six periods: rapid growth, slow growth, shrinkage, decay, renewal and revitalisation. And again.

Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul wants to light the arena spark.

Here’s the start of a conversation to help generate more positive thinking:

Tamatha Paul (Wellington Central MP)

In addition to the obvious and urgent basic infrastructure work that our city needs (housing, transport, pipes), if I could make one idea happen with the purpose of invigorating the energy of our City – it would be an arena on the waterfront.

Wellington is the only city in Australasia without an arena. If we had a 12,000-person arena on the waterfront, a venue like Spark Arena in Auckland, we would attract international acts and entice visitors from all across the country. I often hear about people heading up to Auckland to see their favourite international acts. Imagine how great it would be if we brought those acts here.

We should be proud, says musician Barnaby Weir

When the idea of an arena was explored a decade ago, there were exciting prospects for collaboration between mana whenua, local government and infrastructure investors to build an arena that would breathe new life into our central city and invigorate our local economy. Packing out restaurants and hotels months in advance.

The arts have always and will always be the heartbeat of Wellington. We need to ensure we have platforms for local and international talent to thrive, entertain, and energise our city.”

Barnaby Weir, musician (Fly My Pretties, Black Seeds)

Wellington city, it’s proudly my birthplace and my hometown ‒ even though I now reside in New Plymouth.

It’s been a number of tough years for the city, with earthquakes, Covid, more earthquakes and now major layoffs. The hospitality sector has suffered immensely.

Scott Sheeran has his eye on AI innovation.

What can we do? I think Wellington has always been full of resilient people. We are not there for the weather. It is a vibrant place full of creatives and great ideas, incredible food and a wealth of rich history in the many amazing ideas that have flourished worldwide and locally.

We should be proud of what we’ve achieved. We should be supporting what is currently happening by going out; buying tickets to shows, participating in events around the city, supporting long term and locally owned hospo venues, continuing to create new work.

Wellington is going through a phase. Yes, that is tough but I know there is hope. It is absolutely the creative capital of New Zealand and a wonderful place to live and visit.

Scott Sheeran (National Party Wellington Central candidate/human rights lawyer)

The AI revolution is coming, and NZ has real catching-up to do.

A flourishing city has people at its heart says Amanda Holland, from Small Acorns.

This is not about super robots or other fantastical ideas, but rather widespread technology that helpfully augments many daily things that we do. We’re not talking expensive AI research, but rather integration and making innovation happen. Let’s apply AI to our real world, to solve real challenges. Whether that’s cancer screening, energy grid optimisation, earthquake prediction, or more.

AI is certain to revolutionise our private sector, public services, education, and climate change action. Wellington is uniquely placed to be a regional, even global, player in AI integration and implementation. We’ve got the dynamism, innovation, practicality, and a strong IT sector.

The economic growth, productivity gains, and opportunities are vast if Wellington seizes this AI opportunity. More and better jobs, higher incomes, increased students here. We can rebuild our local economy, as well as our sense of pride and confidence.

Wellington, let’s embrace a future vision, and do the mahi together.

Amanda Holland (business owner Small Acorns, Squirrel cafe)

Ngāti Toa’s Helmut Modlik says think local.

The central city can not only survive but thrive so long as creativity and putting people at the heart of it is the starting point.

We need to create an environment for retail and hospitality businesses to flourish, and we need to tell our locals all about it and encourage people back in to the city.

Wellington has always been a city about community and interaction and real human experiences, from our coffee culture to our theatre culture to our retail culture. Retailers and hospitality business owners know that creating a physical, multi-layered sensory experience is the key to encouraging long-term loyalty and fans who spread the word, and come back.

Courtenay Place event manager Brett McCall says embrace the city’s music scene.

Perhaps we need to relax some of the barriers, hoops, costs and red tape that businesses currently have to navigate in order to encourage creativity and fresh thinking. More outdoor tables at cafés and restaurants (at no cost to the operator), making it easier to open a short term pop up business in empty retail or hospo spaces, a free all-day city centre bus loop from Courtenay Place through to the Railway Station and back… Look at how busy Melbourne CBD is with their free trams. Free short-term parking on the weekends would also be brilliant, even if it was just for two hours.

I think we need to remember that Wellington isn’t just any city that is struggling, but our capital city which should have its best foot forward for not only visitors, but for those loyal Wellingtonians who have witnessed the spark dampen as many of our favourite businesses close their doors. Many more of these independent (and even big box) operators will go if we don’t come together as a community to ensure their longevity.

Helmut Modlik (Chief Executive, Ngāti Toa Rangatira)

To kick start the city economically, my idea would be for all Wellingtonians – public and private sector – to publicly commit to a “Buy Wellington For Wellington” campaign.

This would involve supporters agreeing to generate greater “circular economic” benefits in Wellington by leveraging existing or planned invest-able activity to intentionally procure goods and services from Wellington-owned and operated firms.

A commitment to hiring local could also be an element of the campaign, and would collectively generate publicity and positivity for local by local commercial activity.“

Brett McCall (Courtenay Precinct event manager)

Build a world-class tourist walk on Courtenay Place, which finishes at the Embassy Theatre paying tribute to the Lord of the Rings and the city’s iconic music scene. Take inspiration from other world-class cities like Austin,Texas and its famous South by Southwest Festival.

Continue to invest into Wellington’s world class hospitality industry.

TurnCourtenay Place into one of the great little entertainment precincts of the world. Think big, make it iconic like Covent Garden. I don’t know if bicycles lanes fit in here but if they must be included make sure they are in the right spot.

Joni Mitchell knew what was going on all those years ago when she sang, “Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got ‘til it's gone”. So it’s really important to get this right ‒ you get one shot at it.

So here is to Wellington keeping its groovy swagger and becoming one of the great little creative cities in the world.

Let us know your best idea, email news@thepost.co.nz