Page 1764 - Week 06 - Thursday, 14 May 2015
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Tourism New Zealand, who are also supportive of direct flights between New Zealand cities and Canberra. I have also met recently with Qantas to further strengthen our relationship with our national carrier and to ensure that Canberra is well positioned in the aviation market.
In addition to a direct economic relationship, New Zealand and Canberra have a lot of lessons to share in relation to the role of government in sustaining and investing in urban renewal and housing to promote economic growth. My meetings with Re:START, Hobsonville Land Co, Christchurch City Council and the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency offered many insights into how governments and the private sector can form partnerships to achieve results in areas such as regulatory reform, sustainable and affordable building design and development, and place making and activation. It also highlighted the significant outcomes that can be achieved through an ambitious urban renewal agenda.
Christchurch City Council were able to offer specific lessons relevant to the city to the lake project in their approach to early activation pop-ups, the absolute importance of early and sustained stakeholder management and community engagement and the path they have taken in delivering their new convention centre. Urban renewal raises challenges for governments. While the overwhelming majority of citizens support urban renewal, the question of where this renewal occurs is far more vexed. We must also consider complex regulatory and planning environments, finding appropriate funding mechanisms for investment in public infrastructure, and the challenge in delivering truly innovative precincts.
Neither we nor they can shy away from these challenges. Both we and they are embracing urban renewal opportunities. Governments across New Zealand are exploring smoother pathways to urban renewal, simplifying regulatory processes, investing in smart city technologies, and prioritising creativity, design and vibrancy, with cities embracing their roles as important regional centres. Urban renewal in New Zealand, just as in the ACT, is about more than just development or infrastructure. It is about place making. It is about building communities and connecting people to these communities.
Across the three cities I visited I engaged with organisations who have led the charge on urban renewal. Each city has a different character and different communities. In turn the urban renewal agenda of each city references and reflects those differences. For example, the needs of the city of Christchurch and its community differ from those in Wellington. So the responsiveness and the structure of urban renewal differ.
Meeting with the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority was a humbling and inspiring experience. We discussed the importance of being agile, responsive and focused in order to deliver an active and vibrant city. In Christchurch they are reimagining their city. Their process of community consultation, the “share an idea” concept, has some important crossover and relationships with Canberra’s own time to talk. Both asked the community to suspend their current thinking and imagine forward, to picture a city they want to live in. Both are being used to create the city the community asked for and the city the community is ready for.
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