Sydney’s innovation strategy acknowledges that the economy lands spatially, and economic growth and innovation need to be intentionally planned for.
Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s tech strategy sets an important direction for the city. Future iterations could strengthen its impact by building more deliberately on Aotearoa New Zealand’s existing economic strengths and by elevating the role of place, proximity and connectivity in supporting a thriving innovation economy.
With more than 11,000 firms and home to 60% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s top 200 tech companies, Auckland already has a strong tech industry. However, to lift prosperity and unlock the high-value jobs of the future, the city needs to continue to grow that.
Looking to other cities can provide inspiration. Aurecon recently brought Jeremy Gill, head of policy at the Committee for Sydney Innovation District Alliance, to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to tell us more about how Sydney is applying these principles.
Our closest neighbour is seeking to transform their historically coal-reliant economy to one driven by tech and innovation, advanced manufacturing, clean energy and higher education. And the strategy appears to be working, with Sydney now home to nearly 50% of Australia’s scale-ups and the No 1 start-up ecosystem in the Southern Hemisphere.
Among the many insights from Gill, some of Sydney’s success shows that Auckland needs stronger alignment between national strengths and regional opportunities, and greater emphasis on the role of place‑based factors like transport, housing and vibrant precincts in attracting the skilled talent required to help firms scale.
A key lesson from Sydney is to build on our existing strengths. An example is Australia’s strategy to shift from an economy that has traditionally exported much of its raw materials offshore for value-adding to retaining more of that value domestically - through processing, manufacturing and the energy transition.
To identify future opportunities for Auckland, we should look to two areas – first, the sectors that are already established here, and second, where Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy has existing strengths. FinTech, HealthTech, and digital and creative tech are already thriving in Auckland, with significant potential to grow this further as identified in the Tech Tāmaki Makaurau Strategy. Nationally, however, Aotearoa New Zealand has strong capabilities in agriculture and the primary industries, as well renewable energy.
In his presentation, Gill challenged us to consider how Auckland could play a central role in capturing and retaining more of that value chain locally by focusing on Agritech, CleanTech and research and development.
Another consideration is the role our largest economy plays in delivering on national objectives. This means aligning research and development projects with national priorities and considering how innovation can help drive sectors with domestic demand - for example, using automation and modern methods of construction for housing. Connecting with national direction is important, as it drives us to ask how Auckland’s industries can support wider societal goals, such as equity, decarbonisation, and iwi participation.
A second lesson from Sydney is that the tech economy is inherently place-based, with industries tending to cluster in specific locations close to other tech businesses, and the facilities and resources they need to thrive. When considering the future of innovation precincts in Auckland, we need to consider this spatial context, intentionally plan for where growth will occur and invest in transit, housing, and placemaking for those locations.
Looking at existing patterns can reveal what different industries gravitate towards. Sydney’s Tech Central innovation precinct developed around specific amenities, with Camperdown’s health, education and technology institutions clustering around Royal Albert Hospital and the University of Sydney; and tech and innovation start-ups in Eveleigh and Haymarket drawn to the world-class tertiary education institutions and transport connectivity anchored by Central Station. An intentional strategy has helped them connect and grow, amplified by the creation of the Innovation District Alliance to drive research, attract investment, and provide advocacy.
Innovation nodes exist in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland too, with FinTech and SaaS businesses concentrating in Wynyard Quarter; DeepTech in Parnell; MedTech and BioTech in Newmarket, with its proximity to Auckland Hospital and the University of Auckland; and film and creative industries centred in Henderson. In the south, Manukau has several innovation and entrepreneurship hubs, while North Harbour is home to tech and AI start-ups and Massey University.
The current Tech Tāmaki Makaurau Strategy sees the spatial concentration of Auckland’s existing innovation hubs as a challenge, however, we see it as an asset - with that existing spread and the post-City Rail Link (CRL) rapid transit network in place which addresses the strategy’s inclusion aspirations - enabling agglomeration, which describes the productivity, efficiency and innovation that can be unlocked when businesses and people can interact and collaborate easily.
Auckland’s tech strategy rightly names technology infrastructure as key to growing the city’s innovation economy; however, we should take this one step further and consider the importance of broader infrastructure investment in transport, housing and placemaking.
As noted above, innovation precincts require proximity – both to a diverse and skilled talent pool and to other precincts. Rapid transit is one of the simplest levers to increase that proximity. In Sydney, Tech Central is anchored by Sydney Central Station, and the new metro and light rail have greatly improved access into and across the central city.
For Auckland, the completion of CRL this year creates a powerful opportunity to connect existing innovation nodes together, give businesses access to a broader talent base and reshape land use. The Newmarket Innovation Precinct, in particular, is connected to two stations – Newmarket and Grafton – that will improve access to the central city, other precincts and to talent.
Newmarket, however, also highlights the opportunity in Auckland’s tech strategy to consider the value of placemaking. Sydney’s Surry Hills is home to a thriving tech industry with talent attracted not just to the proximity of Sydney Central Station and Tech Central but also to the bars, cafes and sense of place that Surry Hills offers.
The University of Auckland owns a large parcel of land that forms the core of the proposed Newmarket Innovation Precinct, though it is unclear if there is alignment with the council’s urban development aspirations for the area beyond the Tech Tāmaki Makaurau Strategy.
If Newmarket is to become an innovation hub, it could benefit from investment in placemaking - in appealing third spaces such as hospitality, public art; in pedestrian connections across rail lines and busy roads; and to open spaces in the Domain and Newmarket Park. Wynyard Quarter and Britomart serve as great Auckland examples of such placemaking and connectivity. There is an opportunity for the strategy to hold the larger bold vision for Auckland that private and public interests can align around.
Mass rapid transit is also a catalyst for unlocking housing, a major priority for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Plan Change 120 will enable the city to maximise the potential of CRL through intensification around rail stations. While this is a positive step forward, simply upzoning around stations won’t deliver the benefits we’re looking for. We also need to ensure these locations are appealing places to live, with quality urban design, green spaces and amenities, as well as allocation for affordable housing and homes designed for different kinds of families, if we are to attract the range of experience levels the tech industry will require.
Perhaps controversially for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Gill offered a caution against pursuing housing at every CRL station. While housing is critical, and a key factor in attracting talent, land for innovation precincts along the rapid transit network must be preserved from housing development, regardless of whether the latter is a higher-value land use. Incentives for the right kinds of development are levers Councils can use to help bring their vision to reality.
The Tech Tāmaki Makaurau Strategy is a strong foundation, but insights from Sydney’s experience suggest the next iteration should consider New Zealand’s strengths and opportunities, not just the opportunities that are emerging locally and, if we are to attract industry, investment and talent, it should also consider place. We should consider the existing spatial concentration as an opportunity, not a challenge, and plan space for innovation to grow, aligning public transport, housing and investment in high-quality urban environments where innovation will actually happen.
Lastly, Gill noted Auckland’s relative advantage over Sydney in having a simpler governance structure with a single metropolitan council and only two layers of government. Success in building innovation precincts will also require continued collaboration between the council and the private sector, something that has been a strength of Auckland to date, and which must continue.
Aurecon is a sponsor of the Herald’s Project Auckland report.