Auckland state of city quarterly update, safety fears, traffic woes remain

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

Public safety concerns and widespread traffic problems remain across Auckland despite improved work-life balance, economic growth and student life, a new study reveals.

The latest quarterly update of the State of the City provides a mixed snapshot pitting Auckland against international cities, identifying key areas for improvement.

It shows Auckland ranks well behind other global cities when it comes to safety, innovation and traffic and hasn’t improved much since August’s report update.

Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas said the city had fallen for a third consecutive year in safety, now ranking 124th out of 160 cities.

“Auckland ranks only 124th in safety, marking a three-year decline and positioning it among the lowest-performing peer cities on safety and bottom within Australasia.

He said all aspects of travelling across the city still lagged, with the latest results showing it continuing to worsen.

“The city’s traffic performance, measuring commute time, ride dissatisfaction, network inefficiencies, and CO2 emissions, worsened since 2022.″

However, the report noted Auckland was now in the top five for work-life balance out of 25 global cities being measured.

Deloitte Future of Auckland director Kate Sutton was optimistic with Auckland’s climb to 9th out of 30, with the city’s progression to a more sustainable economy.

“This reflected a commitment to improved construction and demolition waste recycling with the City Rail Link’s efforts achieving 98 per cent diversion from landfill during its development phases highlighted.”

However, Sutton said the city continued to slide in socio-economic development rankings compared to others.

The city’s ranking was a result of household overcrowding, smaller numbers of electric charging stations and lower technology development.

Tātaki Auckland Unlimited director of investment and industry Pam Ford said Auckland had done well in terms of spending from international visitors since pre-Covid.

“Recent data also indicates spending by international visitors in Auckland’s City Centre has surpassed pre-Covid levels for the first time since the pandemic began, and Ponsonby has earned the 33rd spot in Time Out’s list of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods.”

The first State of the City Quarterly update on Auckland showed stable progress for Auckland in improved areas, Thomas said.

However, he believed more work needed to happen in the areas holding Auckland back – particularly the hard to move and systemic challenges.