The National Party flagged its intention to implement city region deals before last year's election. Since then, a number of parties including Kalimena have been thinking about how these might work.
The issue, however, is that Ministers - and the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), as nominated advisor to Ministers on city region deals – have been taking their time to promulgate what is being described as a “policy framework” for city region deals. It is within this wait-and-see environment, this week Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) released a document “What communities need from the framework for city region deals” , seeking to influence Ministers’ and DIA’s thinking prior to release of the framework. The document lays out LGNZ’s six requirements for “outcomes the framework must deliver”. In response to each of these six requirements, here are a few thoughts on what we’d like to see.

Central government has a key role to play in supporting the digital transformation of Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy, without which, gains in productivity, efficiency and economic growth are being left on the table.

As local government becomes increasingly squeezed financially, there is increasing discussion of city region deals as a new way of funding infrastructure. However, while a city region deal may well include new funding streams from central to local government, there will undoubtedly be an expectation that investments will not be solely financed by central government, and – further – that new and innovative financing models will be used.

The team at Kalimena has identified what economic outcomes we might expect to receive from successful City Region Deals in New Zealand.

In late 2023, LGNZ commissioned Kalimena Advisory to produce a paper for local government leaders to provide insight into international experience around city and regional deals, and how this might be applied in the New Zealand context. The paper, and accompanying set of slides, sets out background on the key elements of city and regional deals, different options that have been used in the United Kingdom and Australia, and considerations and key takeaways that could be applied when designing a city and regional deals framework for New Zealand.

This article proposes transformative ideas for a City Deal for Wellington, including a merged tertiary education structure, completing State Highway 1 upgrades for urban rejuvenation, and implementing a congestion charging scheme.

The paper referenced here, authored by David Waite, Andy Pike and Graeme Roy, draws on insights from Australia and the longer standing deals in the UK to identify key issues and dimensions that policymakers may usefully consider. Their stated aim is to further dialogue on the potentials and challenges of City Deals in the New Zealand setting.