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Is the Super City on the right path?

By Fran O'Sullivan

Annual Auckland scorecard 2013.
Annual Auckland scorecard 2013.

Let's get one thing straight, the Mayoral Scorecard released through the Project Auckland report this morning has been produced by Len Brown's office.

There have been big improvements in some areas on last year's scorecard.

Youth unemployment is down.

The overall number of people employed in Auckland has increased. Not surprisingly, Auckland's contribution to GDP per worker has lifted.

Water quality at our beaches is getting better. But housing affordability has worsened and public transport use has fallen away.

A couple of measures are still to be firmed up, but the average improvement on this year's scorecard is 2.1 per cent, down from the 3.4 per cent improvement scored in 2012.

Problem is, as a number of our Project Auckland champions question today, is Auckland focusing on the right things to spur increased wealth?

Vector CEO Simon Mackenzie reckons traditional thinking needs to be challenged to ensure there is more business growth in Auckland and a lift in productivity.

At the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, chief executive Michael Barnett wants an even greater focus on youth unemployment whereas EMA CEO Kim Campbell says Auckland must become more "business-friendly."

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