How can Auckland get its mojo back?

Auckland often feels like the problem child of New Zealand’s cities.

Wellington is the cooler, cultured hub. Christchurch is the new hotspot attracting today’s young people. Auckland is slumpy, sprawling and drowning in a sea of road cones.

The 2025 State of the City report, released this week, doesn’t do much to lift a city’s spirits during the wet winter. While the report highlights the pros like liveability and sustainability, its comparison to other cities reminds Auckland what it is enviously lacking. This includes low economic output per person, dismal housing infrastructure and comparatively sad employment opportunities. Two previous areas of strength are also floundering - the city’s sense of place and how we experience it through creative events.

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So the debate continues - what can Auckland do to get its mojo back? Here are six notable Aucklanders on what the city - and its residents - can do to get out of this funk:

Wilson’s designers are anything but dull - vibrant, handmade loafers, sassy pink kitten heels, and more. The brand has boutiques in Auckland’s Herne Bay and Remuera, and she notices a “substantial uplift in foot traffic and customer buoyancy /spend from Auckland hosting major events,” she wrote in an email to RNZ.

“....music concerts, international sporting events, NZ fashion week, film festivals, etc, bring in visitors from all over New Zealand (and international travellers) to our CBD who book hotels, eat at our local restaurants and go shopping to support local designers."

These events also get local Aucklanders out to explore their city, Wilson wrote.

“I have never been more proud to be an Aucklander during the 2011 Rugby World Cup when the CBD precinct of Britomart and our Viaduct came alive with energy, colourful festivities and joyful celebrations across retail, hospitality, transport and hotels.”

The key to a vibrant hospitality scene is people, which means you, people of Auckland, says Gordon, who has opened restaurants in London, New York and Auckland.

“People talk about how they go to a foreign city and ‘Oh my God, it was so busy. The restaurants were full and everything....’

“I know people with the cost of living crisis are avoiding spending too much money, but I would say that if you want your city to get its mojo back, you have to support your food and beverage, your bars, your hospitality things.

“Don't sit on your sofa at home and watch Netflix and get an Uber Eats because that hospo team is not really benefitting from that.”

It could be going to a dumpling place on Dominion Road or that fancy restaurant you want to try for a big celebration once every six months, suggested Gordon. If you have a nice bottle of wine at home and you're concerned about booze markups, call the restaurant and ask if you can bring your bottle for a corkage fee.

“You will be creating mojo rather than sitting at home bemoaning the fact that it all feels a bit down-at-heel.”

Not surprisingly, Chandar K’s suggestion comes with some mathematics. Auckland transport is too expensive for families compared to using a car when getting around the city. But then families are faced with battling the traffic to get to city events, an off-putting possibility that might just keep them home, says Chandar K, who lives in South Auckland.

His family of three used public transport often when it was 50 percent off for more than 12 months from April 2022 in an effort to get Aucklanders out of the Covid slump.

“Anything that happened in the city, we would just jump on a train or the bus, and we would be there. We were not stressing about parking or anything.”

Now, even though he has a bus stop right outside his home, it costs more to use public transport than to drive his car to the school where he teaches. A recent trip to Westfield in Newmarket, where shoppers get two hours of free parking, meant it was half the cost to drive than to catch public transport.

Auckland is a lucky city with beautiful outdoor and public spaces such as the Winter Garden and the Auckland Art Gallery, according to Wigl’it, who just finished up a series of three shows at Star City.

“There's so much going on in Auckland and I think that part of the problem is us as Aucklanders, we tend to just not to go to anything.”

Aucklanders are spoilt for choice, and it can paralyse them, says Wigl’it. When she does shows in regional centres such as Rotorua, the crowds come out. She believes it's because a drag queen show isn’t always an option like it is in Auckland, where there is an excuse not to seize the moment.

‘“Oh, I won't go to drag bingo this month because, oh, it'll be back next month, or there'll be five other events next week that are similar.”

“We're very homely sort of people, and we love the comforts of our home life, but I think we need to challenge ourselves and get out there and experience new things before life passes us by.”

While there might be a lot happening in Auckland, it is often financially out of reach, especially for families, says Moa, a children's performer and host ofIt’s Personal on RNZ. She recorded her first album Thinking Room in 2001 while living in New York City and also lived in London and Melbourne. She lives in Auckland with her partner and child.

“That is why we need the council to put more into the arts.

“I understand you can’t always afford to take your kids to music gigs. There is the thing where I want to perform for these amazing children, but I don’t really make any money out of it.”

She wants to see more free music in parks as well as more indoor music venues.

“When I moved here, there were so many good venues with lots of great bands performing. There was a vibe.”

Auckland doesn’t need to find its mojo because it never lost it, according to Bossley, whose firm designed the Te Papa museum in Wellington and the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland.

“I think Auckland is a fantastic city, I really love it and it's got a lot of wonderfully vibrant things about it. It has multiculturalism, and it is different across the city, and it's diverse, all kinds of things. It's just a wonderful city.”

Bossley hears the regular complaint that the CBD of Auckland is always under construction. He wants to remind those naysayers that those changes, such as the pedestrianisation of Queen Street and the 2026 opening of the underground City Rail Link, will be brilliant.

“People often dismiss Queen Street as being terrible. I think it's one of the great streets. It's just beautiful how it meanders its way up the valley.

“I think there are things that need to be done to improve [Auckland], but it doesn't mean to say that it's lost its mojo.”