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Dunedin is to be known as 'one of the great small cities in the world'. That is the vision of Dave Cull, Dunedin City's Mayor and Councillor Chris Staynes. Dunedin Central Rotary club members heard the strategic vision for Dunedin City looking forward to the year 2023.
In the past Dunedin has always been a multi-cultural city, with very liberal views, says Dave Cull. Our city's founders valued education and as a result we are home to New Zealand's oldest university, the University of Otago, known for educational excellence. We also have world class heritage buildings, Dunedin Railway Station, Toitū , the Hocken Library, the list is extensive. Our city has a rich diverse culture and history, a natural beauty, and our location provides easy access to some of the best recreational activities in the world, we need to market these assets globally.
When I first took office council saw themselves as mangers of infrastructure, Dave Cull explained. Now we see ourselves as having a governance role, developing strategies to move Dunedin forward.
We developed our current strategic plan after consulting with 5,000 businesses and people. We asked, 'where did they see Dunedin's opportunities?'
From this survey we developed the following strategy:
- To develop 'a Study Dunedin Initiative' market Dunedin globally as the International study destination
- Grow jobs - increase jobs by 10,000 by 2023 by encouraging entrepreneurship. Invite businesses to start up here, foster internships with local businesses
- Increase income by $10,000 per household
- Develop our Shanghai relationship. Shanghai, our sister city with a population of 30 million is currently working towards being the largest financial centre in China. They have a wealthy population that value quality. We see huge potential to develop business connections and grow our export and tourism economy.
- Encourage families to settle in Dunedin, we currently have an aging population
Identifying our city's strengths and where we need to focus our attention to increase jobs and the business economy has lead us to develop some truly future focused initiatives. We are also looking at the use of smart technology in many of the services provided by the council to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible.
Both Dave Cull and Chris Staynes emphasis, 'These are exciting times for Dunedin, we have an incredibly strong IT industry that has established itself in Dunedin. We have growing tourism and a lifestyle that is second to none. Our goals are realistic and achievable. Dunedin's future is very bright.'