David Hill: Outsider's tips on making great city truly super

More railways! More railways! Photo / Jason Oxenham

The Herald asks: How do we make a first-class city? Well, to us down in Hayseed Land, it's always seemed like one. In a world of its own, at any rate.

But here from a provincial's perspective are some suggestions, responsible or otherwise.

• Get more commuter ferries on that harbour. World-class cities are always looking for alternatives to traffic gridlock. Scenic alternatives, especially.

• Build up sculpture trails and art routes. All the major cities I know make a feature of their public art, especially the outside stuff. Who knows the Domain's terrific little Valkyrie? Or Marte Szirmay's amazing aluminium coils in Newmarket?

• Get that cycle and pedestrian lane on the Harbour Bridge soon. See ferry idea above.

• More railways! More railways!

• Charge any developer who fells a heritage structure with Grievous Bodily Harm. (It's the Body Corporate I'm thinking about.) Out here in the paddocks, we can't believe how Auckland's whacked down its historic buildings.

• Turn the roofs of high-rises into gardens.

• Consider a 'VISITOR' sticker for out-of-town vehicles. It might reduce the screeching brakes, blaring horns, yelling voices that greet a non-Auckland driver who slows to check lanes or exits. Why, I've heard some people say that Auckland motorists are rude.

• Plan for climate change and rising sea levels. They're coming, folks, and you'll be affected. World-class cities are usually above water.

• Keep public libraries free. You want to be a literate and cultured town, don't you?

• And ban all letters to the editor which use the phrases: "pc drivel ... bleeding-heart liberals ... I'm not a racist, but ... slap with a wet bus ticket".You don't want to be a world-class, red-neck town, do you?

• Do anything that promotes communication between South Auckland and the North Shore (plus the Parnell and Remmers enclaves). I visit schools in both areas, and they're separate universes. Neither knows how or even if the other half lives. A two-state city isn't a world-class one.

• Keep up the good work on the Viaduct Basin. It's great.

• Keep up the good(ish) work in Queen St. For a couple of sad decades, it was a gully of tawdry souvenir shops and plastic eateries. Now it's gradually becoming vital and varied again. More superettes, please. More bookshops. They both imply a resident, thinking population.

• Lynch anyone who wants to extend wharves into the harbour. Imagine Sydney or San Francisco with a dirty great terminal sticking out another 100m into its scenic gem.

• Smarten up the airport's domestic terminal. It's weary.

• Get a lot more green on to Hobson, Nelson, Albert streets. They're major arteries, and they're bleak, industrial, uninviting.

• Oh, and prohibit personalised number plates reading 'ALL MYN ... LUSTEE ... TOP DOG ... HOTTIE'. World-class cities are usually ... well, sophisticated.

David Hill lives in Taranaki.