Baby come back Christchurch’s key to helping Auckland back from lockdown

Could the country’s largest city learn from the earthquake recovery? Todd Niall discovers there are more similarities than you might think.

Christchurch’s downtown devastation came suddenly, in the February 2011 earthquake that killed 185 and injured thousands.

Auckland’s has been silent and corrosive since the arrival in the country of the first case of Covid-19 in February 2020, with economic street life squeezed by closed borders and a string of lockdowns spanning 18 months.

The Christchurch quake left 80 per cent of the city centre condemned or in rubble. Auckland’s Covid-19 lockdowns have left 90 Queen St shopfronts empty, and retailers with a fraction of normal business.

The challenge of reviving two downtown economies, crippled in very different circumstances, may have more in common than is obvious at first glance.

‘‘Christchurch has really gone through what many cities around the world are currently going through,’’ said Joanna Norris, the outgoing CEO of ChristchurchNZ, the city’s economic development agency.

As the reconstruction progressed, Christchurch in 2018 turned to the challenge now facing an intact Auckland central city – how to bring back the people critical to sustaining the downtown economy.

‘‘The Central City Action Plan was very deliberate in that we needed to rebuild, and I don’t mean rebuild physically, but to rebuild critical mass in the city centre,’’ Norris told the Sunday Star-Times.

‘‘We needed to be ambitious, we needed to set targets, and we needed to make sure that people responsible for actions carried out those actions.’’

Drawing people and businesses back after years of relocation into the suburbs was one key plank.

‘‘The city centre was no longer relevant to people’s lives, and encouraging that relevance was the first step to our recovery,’’ said Norris.

‘‘One of the first things we did was we ran a campaign which was quite controversial at the time – ‘Baby come back’ – fronted by a comedian.’’

She saw human disconnection as a possible parallel with Auckland.

‘‘There is perhaps a lack of ownership of the city centre as a place that Aucklanders are invested in, emotionally and physically.’’

Auckland has lost foreign tourists, cruise ship visitors, foreign students, and thousands now working more from home.

It doesn’t yet have a crosssector plan to look at how to adapt and re-invigorate its city centre to

what could be a different future without some of its past economic pillars.

Business promotion agency Heart of the City (HOTC) is an important player in the city centre, with a $5.5 million budget mostly funded by rates from city businesses. It has its own plan,

but with a single focus. ‘‘We see our role to promote the heart of the city, and promote our businesses – this recovery is for more than one organisation,’’ said chief executive Viv Beck, who put revenue losses in alert level 4 at $24m a week.

Andrea Tamburro, an architect and consultant working for the foreign owners of 75 Queen St,

which includes high-end retailer Bulgari, said transformation of the ‘‘golden mile’’ was critical.

‘‘Less traffic, more pedestrianfriendly – once implemented in the right way you will see benefits straight away,’’ said the normally European-based Tamburro.

Cautious moves by Auckland Council in shifting Queen St from being a bus and vehicle thoroughfare continue, with interim plans for more people space while the future of light rail is decided.

However, the council’s planning chair, Chris Darby, is frustrated that while the council is good at building things, the wider discussion about how to enliven the city is not happening.

‘‘Auckland Council is not thinking about the future, but is caretaking the present,’’ said Darby.

In the short term he suggested ideas such as rolling in food trucks once the city returns to low alert levels, to liven up Queen St after office hours.

Downtown Auckland has some powerful ingredients in the recipe to put the current slump behind it, such as the transformative $4.4 billion City Rail Link due

in 2024.

An expanded Wynyard Quarter and Te Komititanga square in front of Britomart are ready for their first summer.

The top of the currently scruffy-looking Queen St connects with Karangahape Rd, an east-west retail strip that has kept its mojo through not only Covid, but an almost two-year upgrade building dedicated cycle lanes, and wider footpaths and seating.

The Karangahape Rd Business Association said the area’s strengths included the mix of quirky and distinctive businesses, a high proportion of owner-operators, and most customers coming from within a 5km radius.

The double-whammy of Covid19 and extended roadworks has nevertheless been devastating, according to outgoing association chief executive Michael Richardson.

Some businesses reported revenue was down by up to 60 per cent.

The strip, however, is now accessible by everything from cars, to bikes and scooters and had enjoyed a strong rebound just before the August lockdown.

The uptown experience shows the strength that comes from having the right mix of ingredients for the right crowd.

About one kilometre away, Edward Caughey marked lockdown by becoming the managing director of the familyowned department store Smith & Caughey’s, a retail landmark for 141 years.

He acknowledged things were difficult in the city centre, not helped by a ‘‘negative feedback loop’’ where talk of doom and gloom could become self-fulfilling prophecies.

‘‘We are lucky we’ve got history behind us and can take a longer view of everything,’’ said Caughey, who was excited by the transformative underground City Rail Loop, and even the chance for renewal that vacant shopfronts provided.

Caughey noted big strategic efforts overseas to boost city centres, such as Melbourne’s $100 million City Centre Activation

Fund unveiled in 2020.

In Auckland, he saw the need for a more co-ordinated public and private sector approach to the city centre.

‘‘There needs to be a working group or task force which every party can contribute to,’’ he told the Star-Times.

‘‘A big-picture definition of what we want the city centre to be, aspirations for a place people want to go to – defining what the strengths are and amplify them.’’

In the words of Auckland Council’s economic and culture agency, ‘‘conversations are already under way’’ about a more co-ordinated approach to bringing people back to Auckland’s city centre.

‘‘We are extremely aware of the need to help reinvigorate economic activity across Auckland and in the city centre, once alert level restrictions allow,’’ said Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill.

‘‘The loss of people coming into the central city in particular, be that students, or people going to work, to shop, attend cultural events or enjoy hospitality, is immense,’’ said Hill.

Norris, the outgoing ChristchurchNZ CEO, said her advice to Auckland was simple.

‘‘Have the plan, be clear on what you are trying to achieve, and execute it.’’

Norris said she believed Auckland had a bright future ahead.

‘‘Having the confidence and backing yourself is the most important thing here.

‘‘Ta¯maki Makaurau is an incredible city, it is a global city – any pain you are feeling currently will be temporary.’’