Dunedin, let’s explore “renewal partnerships”

### renewcanada.net 22 May 2008
The Disconnect Between Planning and Economic Development
(and How to Fix It)
By Storm Cunningham
Planning should ideally be the most holistic of disciplines, addressing the needs of human culture, wildlife, economics, and a plethora of other agendas in a systematic manner that has a rigorous theoretical basis. Now that you’ve stopped laughing, let me point out that the reality – planning reduced to primarily a land-use function – is not the fault of planners.

“Economic development is the last thing the planning department considers when giving, delaying, procrastinating, postponing, negotiating, and blocking applications. Planning department and council only pay lip service even to provincial and their own development policies. It would be refreshing to link planning approvals with at least consideration of economic benefit/impact.” -anonymous architect

Why are so many cities struggling with this disconnect? I trace it to two primary causes: turf protection and silo thinking (also silo budgeting).

Individuals tend to protect turf and tend to think in silos. As a result, organisations comprising, or led by, such individuals do the same. The organisation reinforces such behaviour, both actively and passively inhibiting enlightened individuals who wish to break these habits. As a result of this behavioural feedback loop, these aren’t the kinds of problems we can tackle head-on, like plugging a leak in a dike.
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-Storm Cunningham is the author of The Restoration Economy (2002) and ReWealth! (2008). He is CEO of the Resolution Fund and founder of Revitalisation Institute.

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin must have 3D cinema!

Or die.

The ODT headline is another chilling event in a prolonged winter interlude. Dunedin is 2D – cardboard.

### ODT Online Thu, 14 Jan 2010
Dunedin stays a 2D town
By Mark Price
Dunedin looks likely to remain a two-dimensional city in a 3D world – at least, that is, in a cinematic sense.
Most people have seen the visual effects of Avatar in one of the country’s 23 3D cinemas.
Otago Daily Times inquiries yesterday suggested Dunedin will continue to be one dimension short of centres such as Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson and… Hokitika.
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Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Superficial Dunedin sloganism

NO SLOGAN REQUIRED

We see ODT is voicing its campaign using the word “brand”, despite taking the front page today to push slogans mostly. Hmmph.

The slogan search was a bit of fun but comes at the cost of exposing the negative self-deprecatory ‘irishness’ of the place.

More than that, helpfully, it shows some of the wider demographics of people’s exposure to what Dunedin might seem like during a dull, chilly summer, or what their memories are of the city having the hit the wider world in adulthood. Some childishness enters the fray of sloganism.

Users of the internet demonstrate how widely the debate is cast, and how lively the medium is for brainstorming, discussion and famous last words – in which Dunedin comes to resemble hapless prey, underscored by truths, comparisons and denials of sorts.

One thing is clear from the battery charge of slogans online, in particular (!!!!), Dunedin is sufficiently well regarded as ‘being’ its own place – otherwise, it would have attracted little or no comment at all.

Dunedin always has something to do with learning, leaving and the test of arriving with little known, until you get past the glint in its eye.

Cloyingly, in business it appears to have lots to do with OBHS. There’s room to explore the city’s identity through other mirrors and charms, make that soon, make that comprehensive.

For these days in the news we’re saying we’re debt funded here to an unholy degree. We are for this matter on watch to emerge, we hope, without deep scars, parochial chips on shoulders – divorced from our good side.

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### ODT Online Thu, 14 Jan 2010
City brand search hots up
By David Loughrey
Dunedin’s plan to develop and launch a new brand for the city has sparked a strong city-wide response, and the search is now on to find the “essence” of the Dunedin experience to promote the city to the rest of the world.
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Post by Elizabeth Kerr