Monocolumn: How Auckland Just Got Interesting

Monocolumn is Monocle’s daily bulletin of news and opinion. Catch up with previous editions here.

Auckland used to be one of the world’s least ambitious cities. With its beautiful harbour, easy access to beaches, its young, creative workforce and excellent universities, it’s a nice place to live. But thanks to decades of indecisive leadership, political gridlock and a lack of investment in core infrastructure, the city hasn’t lived up to its potential.

That all changed last week with the inauguration of Len Brown as the first mayor of the “supercity”, the Auckland Council, which is an amalgamation of seven former councils representing 1.4 million people, a third of New Zealand’s population. Brown – elected by a landslide 65,000 votes – has promised to make Auckland the world’s most liveable city.

That plan includes a commitment to building NZ$4bn (€2.2bn) worth of new rail links within 15 years and a promise to deliver 100 projects in his first 100 days of office. Not yet formally announced, those projects range from building a rail loop under the city centre – which would revolutionise Auckland’s sclerotic train system – to a possible rail link to the airport and cleaning up graffiti in preparation for next year’s Rugby World Cup. It also carries over a number of community projects begun under the previous political structure.

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