A city that works for working should have some key priorities across the issues of economic participation, transport, and safety:

• A full employment, living wage city, with employee engagement and participation in delivering a thriving economy

• Ensuring all transit and infrastructure planning factors in the needs of service vehicles, effective goods distribution, and those with employment and access needs. This may include priority routes for particular vehicles, strategic planning for reliable loading zones for distribution vehicles, etcetera.

• Re-establishing the free central city shuttle as soon as possible, with an adjusted route reflecting the changes of road layouts in the central city. 

• Exploring parking solutions at our hospital. Healthcare workers responding to last minute emergencies, residents supporting sick family members, a young mother going into labour and a midwife showing up to help, none of these folks need the added burden of being harassed for a parking fine - even if it’s waived eventually.

• Investing in amenities that encourage active transport such as secure lock-up areas and locky-docks integrated with existing public transport (metrocards),  and provision and access to showering facilities in the central city to enable human-powered transport for more workers to be feasible.

• Investigating the viability of expanding the existing car-sharing options in Christchurch (like Zilch), or invest in this utility itself.

• Adequate social housing, more readily accessible to all who may need it at some point. Social housing should not be limited to the utterly desperate, but can be used as a leg-up for all working people early in life.

• Employment and training opportunities that are meaningful, and engage directly with civic life.

• Priority planning work and lighting improvements on identified ‘dead zones’ within the four aves.

• Work closely with social agencies and youth advocacy groups to make the city somewhere everyone feels welcome.

The central city isn’t only a place of leisure for the whole of Christchurch. It’s a place where people live, and it’s a place where people work.

The central city would not function without the thousands of Christchurch residents and hundreds of thousands of working hours that are poured into it every year. We are part of an economic ecosystem that hums from the wee hours of the morning until, well, the wee hours of the morning! From the first cleaner or street sweeper before the crack of dawn, to the late-shift healthcare worker at our hospital, to the bartenders and glassies on the terrace working late into the night: our city relies 24/7 on working people. 

I believe we need a City that Works for Working People. My vision for our City has three dimensions: economic participation, transport, and safety.

Economic Participation

The Central Ward and the City as a whole should aim to be the most attractive city in the country for working people and their families. A city where prosperity is shared is a city that holds onto its wealth. Shared prosperity means a thriving local economy where everyone, regardless of the supposed prestige of their job, has a stake in their community and can fully participate in economic, social, and political life. 

A city that works for all also means working people are valued for being at the coalface, as the experts who naturally find great solutions and improvements to how they work. If properly utilised, employees can deliver many of the answers to improve productivity. It means working people are listened to, and the Council should lead by example in this area.

Christchurch must aim to become a full employment, living wage city. The Council is a living wage employer already, and should advance policies that encourage and incentivise the adoption of living wages across the ward. It should also make broader policy commitments that increase total employment in the city.

Employee engagement and participation is a key component in delivering a thriving economy. The Council can lead by example in this area by exploring innovative workplace practices including forms of employee representation on boards of CCHL, high performance/high engagement  management, and walking delegates.

Transport

It’s impossible to talk about the Central City without thinking about transport - for people working there, visitors, residents, everyone really. Pragmatic solutions and an acknowledgement of the different needs of residents is essential. 

In local politics it’s a cliche to point out that tradies probably aren’t biking to work. But it’s not just tradies. Distribution workers delivering everything from coffee beans to printer paper within the central city need a central city that is navigable and accessible to them. Emergency services need to know they can, when necessary, rapidly make their way through the city in urgent situations. Shift workers starting early or finishing late can’t rely on public transit if it doesn’t exist for them.

This doesn’t mean public or “human-powered” transport should be ignored - quite the opposite. By making sure transport options are varied, well catered to, and efficient, Christchurch residents will have the ability to make choices that best suit their needs. 

Safety

Central city safety is of enormous importance for anyone who lives, works, or socialises in the city centre. Urban environments become less secure when they’re underutilised - when large stretches are unused and relatively empty, creating ‘dead zones’ where people may become isolated and at higher risk. A city that tolerates unemployment or poor pay for those who are employed makes anti-social behaviour more likely. 

A thriving, energetic, exciting and vibrant central city, underpinned by full employment and livable incomes, is one of the best defenses we have to safety issues in the city centre. Anti-social behaviour can stem from feelings of isolation - from not having a stake in the good functioning of a city. If you are politically, economically, and socially alienated from fully participating in civic life it can be hard to see Christchurch as “your city”, as something you should care about. For youth it can boil down to boredom - being left to your own devices because the market determines you’re not needed, and catering to your hobbies is too difficult. There is no magic bullet here, but we know what sorts of policies can help.