But our fast growth is bringing challenges that are proving difficult to master, not least because we have a council that after five years still hasn't fully established itself.
Since day one there have been a number of things missing in the way we govern ourselves -- some of which we are only now starting to address and others we have yet to tackle but will need to for Project Auckland's ultimate success.
When Auckland Council was formed in 2010, we were Australasia's fastest-growing city. We still are. But we have been struggling to fully grasp the change of leadership and management focus needed to get in front of Auckland's big issues and accelerating growth curve. Instead, we have spent our first five years stuck in doing things largely as we did under the legacy council model.
Still missing is a joined-up planning and investment strategy that brings urban and transport projects together. Still missing is a clear plan that reflects the scale of Auckland's infrastructure requirements, especially transport and housing.
Still missing is a platform giving confidence to the private sector that Wellington and Auckland politicians and officials agree on the scope and size of the growth-related issues Auckland faces.
There is work needed by local and central government to cut red tape and make regulatory changes needed to help Auckland's growth rather than hold it back and add to its cost.
Despite the city's rapid population growth, Auckland has significant skill shortages in sectors as diverse as construction, truck-driving and ICT. Still missing is a responsive, co-ordinated immigration and skills training policy able to quickly address Auckland's immediate and medium-term employment needs.
Five years ago we said we would address Auckland's huge youth unemployment issues. Can we honestly say we have got on top of this -- or might we note that the effort has gone in, but the result is diluted by too many good intentions not brought to fruition or scale?
The work to identify around 100 special housing areas should help fast-track around 47,000 new houses, or about 10 per cent of what is needed, if the Auckland Plan is to be believed.
And still missing from council is a clear-sighted and creative policy to ease the burden on its 550,000 ratepayers for funding the city's growth. In an environment of low inflation, it is unacceptable -- or as I have said elsewhere "lazy" -- to impose a 9 per cent rate increase, let alone expect them to fund growth-related improvements that all 1.5 million citizens benefit from.
And missing from day one has been a suitable support policy and manual spelling out what the city's 21 local boards could and should be doing.
Auckland's local boards are larger than many of New Zealand's provincial cities and towns, yet the message I am receiving from across the city is that most feel under-resourced, ignored or if not abandoned by the council organisation.
Right or wrong, what this tells me is that we have some way yet to go to tell the story of the new Auckland in a way that gives Aucklanders an informed understanding of what really is happening to their city.
What has improved, what's missing and what the consequences of Auckland growth will be to their local area -- it needs to be an Auckland story told at a human level.
Nowhere is the need for an informed story on Auckland's growth issues greater than in the debate over whether the city should expand outwards beyond the current urban-rural boundary or intensify and build up, with more multi-level apartment buildings.
Auckland is an attractive and outstanding city to live and work in because it offers a network of harbours, beaches and parks and mild climate supporting an unrivalled outdoor and family-centred lifestyle.
Council's just-announced review of assets and alternative revenue sources is a sign that it is, at last, starting to listen to its community.
The work to identify around 100 special housing areas should help fast-track around 47,000 new houses, or about 10 per cent of what is needed, if the Auckland Plan is to be believed. As impressive as this progress is, it is still the case that the construction of new houses is failing to keep up with demand from the influx of migrants and young Auckland families seeking their first home.
Yet despite all this, the 1.5 million Aucklanders and the many new citizens arriving every day are saying that there is nowhere else they would rather live.
Auckland is a fast-growing city, I suggest, because of what it offers. Not only is it an exciting city and a diverse, creative one with good education. But overwhelmingly, Auckland is an attractive and outstanding city to live and work in because it offers a network of harbours, beaches and parks and mild climate supporting an unrivalled outdoor and family-centred lifestyle.
And Auckland business overall is booming. It is generating around 36 per cent of New Zealand's GDP. With two legs of New Zealand's three-speed economy showing signs of stalling -- the traditional reliance on agriculture, especially dairy exports and signs that the Christchurch rebuild is over its peak -- reliance on Auckland to add value to the New Zealand economy in the years ahead will increase.
Yes, from where I sit Auckland provides an exciting, attractive lifestyle. There is nowhere I would rather be. But because what is missing reflects problems of our own making, they are things that only we can fix. And we owe it to ourselves to do so.
-Michael Barnett is chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.
