Wellingtonians stand out from their counterparts in New Zealand’s other major cities in believing their city is a great place to live according to a recent survey.

The two-yearly Nielsen Quality of Life survey questioned 6412 residents in New Zealand’s biggest cities – Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Auckland and Tauranga. It found Wellingtonians rated their city high in terms of quality of life and pride in their city’s look and feel.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster says 76% of people surveyed are proud of the look and feel of Wellington City, and 89% perceive Wellington City as a great place to live. This belief is supported by 75% of respondents who agree Wellington has a broad range of arts and artistic activities.

“People are telling us Wellington City is a great place to live and they have great pride in their city-wide communities.”

The survey reveals the impacts of COVID-19 with one in five (19%) of Wellington City respondents saying their income had reduced due to COVID-19, compared to 25% in other cities. While half (51%) said they felt isolated some of the time, a 14% increase since the 2018 survey.

City safety is a top priority with an increasing number of Wellingtonians saying they felt unsafe in the city at night. Around two thirds (62%) of Wellingtonians said they felt safe in the central city after dark, a 10% drop since the 2018 survey, but higher than all the eight cities combined, which averaged 49%.

Survey respondents shared other concerns around affordable housing and amenities, a feeling of isolation, and alcohol and drugs issues.

“Council and our stakeholders: iwi, community, business and government agencies are already engaged with work to address the concerns raised in the survey. This work will be further supported with soon to be released and, public consultation on, strategies for Children and Young People and Aho-Tini, 2030 – Arts, Culture and Creativity Strategy, the Social Wellbeing Framework for Wellington.

“The recently launched Social Contract by Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, the city’s hospitality industry, retailers, and Police will undoubtedly address night-time safety concerns in Wellington’s CBD.

“I take confidence from the survey that the majority of Wellingtonians believe we are working to a vision of an equitable and affordable city,” says Mayor Foster.

A total of 588 respondents from Wellington City answered the survey. Read the Quality of Life survey results on this link.

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