Office of the Mayor
Media release
29 November 2011

Scorecard shows Auckland liveability improving

Auckland Council has developed a scorecard to measure Auckland’s progress as we work towards becoming the world’s most liveable city.

Len Brown released the results of the first Annual Auckland Scorecard in a speech to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle in Auckland today.

“Today I have put a line in the sand,” says Len Brown. “The creation of any great city requires a clear vision and enough time to get there. The time has come to move from aspiration to implementation.”

“If we are determined to meet our challenge of making this the world's most liveable city, then we must begin now,” says Len Brown.

Auckland already rates very highly on a number of indices rating the world’s most liveable cities. It is fourth equal in the Mercer Quality of Living Survey; the world’s 10th most liveable city as rated by The Economist Intelligence Unit; and is 13th on the Monocle magazine Most Liveable Cities Index.

Len Brown requested the creation of scorecard rating the progress of Auckland across four liveability categories covering 19 measures. They include:

• Strong Communities
• Fixing Transport
• Economic Powerhouse
• Healthy Environments

The first annual scorecard shows the index has lifted by 2.4 percentage points since the creation of the supercity from a base index of 100.

Progress towards becoming the world’s most liveable city has been made in 12 categories:

• Educational achievement +0.7%
• Crime -1.9%
• Graffiti eradication -2.5%
• Public transport use +8.5%
• Cycling and walking +5.1%
• Congestion -9.1%
• Household transport spending -10.8%
• Employment +5.37%
• Income +5%
• Visitor nights +9.6%
• Marine water quality +3.9%
• Air pollution +6.51%

Auckland has slipped back in seven categories.

• Youth unemployment +3.0%
• Housing affordability -0.8%
• Spending on local roads -5.6%
• GDP per capita -2.96%
• Exports -0.27%
• Housing affordability -0.8%
• Carbon footprint -0.48%

The Mayor says having a city that attracts and retains talent is about creating a winning formula.

“We can't simply rely on being an innovative, economic powerhouse but need to couple that with sociable, supportive communities, unclogged transport options, natural spaces and people places.”

The Annual Auckland Scorecard will sit alongside broader indicators documented in detail through the Auckland Plan.

Ends

An electronic copy of the Annual Auckland Scorecard PDF

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