Auckland = Global City?

In our Planning 330: Community and Economic Development class, the question of will Auckland ever be a world city came up a few times. Global cities are London, New York, Paris and Tokyo.

The four Alpha world cities
Photo credit: Google Images

With the recent formation of the Supercity, its aim is for Auckland to be a globally competitive metropolitan city. The Council's vision is:

In the next 10 years Auckland's CBD will grow and consolidate its international reputation as one of the world's most vibrant and dynamic business and cultural centres.

Can it actually happen though? As discussed in class, to be a global city is to have the following characteristics:

• First name familiarity.
• Active participation in international events and world affairs.
• A large population.
• Several international cultures and communities.
• Major international airport.
• An advanced transportation system and communications infrastructure.
• A strong sporting community. 
• International financial institutions

Reflecting on the list, a strong sporting community is the only one that can be truly applied to Auckland as it is hosting the Rugby World Cup this year. Although Auckland is also culturally diverse and is home to more than 150 different ethnicities, it doesn't have specific "communities" such as Little Italy and Chinatown but it now has a China Town Mall that has recently opened.

In my opinion and maybe a lot of people will agree on too, is that Auckland still has a long way to go to become a globally competitive city. I don't think it can be achieved in 10 years time. With providing an advanced transportation system and communications infrastructure alone, we are definitely running behind. If we want to achieve the Council's vision and to be like one of the alpha cities, we still have a lot to learn, step up our game and we need to put our plans into actions.

Photo credit: Google Images

We need to make this city every Aucklander will be proud of.