Goal 1

A Fair and Connected Society

Aucklanders' strong sense of fairness means that we look after each other, especially those most disadvantaged. Equal access to quality institutions, services and infrastructure ensures we are healthy, safe, well educated, and well informed, and that we are all supported to realise our full potential as individuals and as communities.

People have a strong sense of belonging to their communities, while diverse neighbourhoods and communities are interconnected to form a cohesive Auckland regional community.

This goal is about people and promoting their well-being. Education, employment, health, housing, and safety are all key factors in achieving this goal.

This goal provides an emphasis for the future on:

  • Addressing disadvantage for individuals, families and whole communities
  • Investing in the potential of communities and individuals, particularly with the region's growing youth population
  • Making the most of Auckland's diverse and changing population to build a dynamic and inclusive regional community.

Opportunities

Many of the opportunities to create a fairer and connected society are with our youth and our older people:

  • Auckland's relatively young population (37 per cent aged less than 25 years) is a potential source of innovation and energy, and represent the workforce of tomorrow. 
  • Auckland's international competitiveness will rely on the skills and entrepreneurship of these young Aucklanders. We need to strengthen and develop the self esteem and resiliency of young people, and ensure strong connections to families and their communities. Supporting young people as they navigate transitions to further education, training or employment is critical. 
  • Older people's contribution to society and our region also provides opportunities as growth in the proportion of older people will happen more quickly after 2011 due to longer life expectancy and the large number of people born after World War II. We must increasingly support older people and encourage them to lead active, satisfying lives whilst still participating in the economy and contributing to their family and their communities. 
  • Agencies are increasingly working together using a collaborative ‘joined up approach', involving local and central government plus community and voluntary organisations. The aim is to better integrate practical and effective ways of working together to achieve the best possible outcomes for people.
  • We need to find new opportunities and tools to help us transform neighbourhoods with entrenched disadvantage and prevent new neighbourhoods with high levels of disadvantage being created.

Challenges

Future sustainability challenges will add to today's challenges of fairness and connectedness. Issues of social cohesion and equitable access to services, education, employment, and quality affordable housing could be heightened by growing pressures on communities and the environment.

Some of the main challenges relating to Goal 1 are:

  • Regional disparities, whether based on economic deprivation and lack of opportunity, or from a sense of social exclusion, which bring a long-term risk of polarisation between different communities. 
  • Educational under-attainment - low-decile schools are struggling to fully address the learning needs of socially disadvantaged children, and many of those children are likely to leave school without formal qualifications. 
  • Housing affordability - high housing costs are causing financial stress for low and modest income households. 
  • Declining levels of home ownership - home-ownership is important as it leads to greater family stability and improves the connections families have with their communities and continuity of educational opportunities
  • Quality of our housing stock and the on-going operating costs to residents, for example with rising energy prices. This is also a concern for health. The average indoor temperature in Auckland homes is 16.5C, well below the World Health Organisation's recommended 18C. Poorly insulated, damp and draughty homes have been demonstrated to affect residents' health, with respiratory symptoms such as colds and asthma. 
  • Negative health outcomes. For example, the rise in obesity, if unchecked, could reverse the trend of increasing lifespan we have seen over the last century. Preventing obesity, especially in childhood, makes a significant contribution to improving lifelong health and enhancing opportunities for individuals to participate fully in society.

Indicative Strategic Responses

Shift required to meet goalIndicative strategic responses which will contribute to meeting the goal
Put people at the centre of our thinking and actions
  • Ensure homes are healthy and affordable.
  • Provide access to jobs and essential services in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
  • Prioritise social initiatives towards those communities with the greatest need.
  • Ensure planning and polices reduce and avoid geographic concentrations of deprivation.
  • Provide life long opportunities for people to participate in education, training and employment.
  • Ensure strong connections between young people and their families and communities.
  • Provide appropriate support for young people as they navigate transitions to further education, training or employment.
  • Improve the educational achievement levels for low-decile schools and underachieving students.
  • Draw upon the knowledge, skills and experience of the growing cohort of older people and ensure they can continue to lead active and satisfying lives. 
  • Make schools the centres of our communities; e.g. by offering a wider range of in-school and after-school programmes for children and their parents.
  • Ensure appropriate infrastructure and support is in place to increase participation in community events and to encourage active recreation.
Value te Ao Māori
  • Achieve acknowledgement of Mana Whenua by Auckland's diverse population and Mana Whenua's role to manaaki.
  • Ensure Māori receive equality of opportunity and equity of outcomes for whanau.
Activate citizenship
  • Enable equal participation in democratic processes.
  • Enable everyone to be actively involved in communities.
  • Support community leaders to represent their groups' interests and needs.
  • Actively encourage the values and actions that promote citizenship (e.g. neighbourliness, trust, cooperation, volunteering and social networking).
  • Ensure there is trust between communities and the institutions that represent or support them (such as government, councils and the police).
Integrate thinking, planning, investment and action
  • Increase collaboration between local and central government, and community and voluntary organisations.
  • Ensure all regional strategies and decisions incorporate a social dimension.
  • Increase planning at the neighbourhood level utilising a systems approach integrating social, cultural, economic and cultural outcomes.
  • Ensure cooperation and collaboration with adjacent regions (Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty).