- Mike Grimshaw writes
The great urbanist Jane Jacobs proclaimed that ‘ down town is for people’. Jacobs both declared and demanded this back in 1958 and since then cities have either endeavored to deliver on this vision or wilfully ignore it; while in the end, most undertake piece-meal attempts towards recognizing it as an aspiration, if not a reality.
New Zealand cities undergo sporadic attempts to deliver such a downtown, usually due to whatever mayor, council, and vested interests are in power. Sometimes they are successful – perhaps most notably in Wellington under Fran Wilde and then, Mark Blumsky. But the crucial element in what occurs is in fact wider society and the desire for – or failure of – social cohesion that exists, or is expected.
Point of Order 