Wellington/Pōneke, does it deserve to be capital city?
There's always at least one headline that tempts, taunts, declares, or decries some variation of this snappy provocation: “is it finally time to move the capital?” Wellingtonians may roll their eyes yet again or perhaps shrug it off with some fatigue. Just another passing threat.
It's easy rhetoric and it mostly just makes for a headline that elevates a reported incident; whether it be infrastructure woes, natural disaster, business closures, stagnating population growth, to that of national significance. Yes, it seems the idle threat of taking the proverbial crown continues to arise and seldom leaves us with a decisive answer.
So should we really shift the entire governance infrastructure that has centered itself in this city for 160 years now? What does it really mean to be a capital city? The more you look the more Poneke/Wellington’s complex contradictions start to play on what seemed like a simple narrative.
Gerald Blunt takes on the task of answering these ever prevalent questions and shares his thoughts on what makes a good city broadly, and why Wellington with all its contradictions is worthy of being the capital.
Over the last 20+ years Gerald has been with the Wellington City Council holding numerous roles including his present appointment as Principal Advisor Design Strategy in the City Design team. He will present on his observations throughout his professional career and as a passionate citizen of Wellington, as well as insights from in his forthcoming book, “Shaping the Messy City: Wellington as a Case Study”.
Gerald Blunt:
Gerald’s professional career has spanned broadly across the built environment, having held roles as a residential developer, a registered architect, and urban designer after studying in Oxford Brookes University in the UK. He has advised MBIE on medium density housing, and the then Minister for the Environment on urban design, and been instrumental in setting up 3 cross-disciplinary conferences in NZ; Urbanism Downunder in 2005 and Urbanism NZ in 2018 and 2023.
At Wellington City Council, he has worked in a variety of roles and was instrumental in developing the “Wellington Waterfront Framework” and “Our Extraordinary Democracy” promoting Wellington as capital. More recently he represented Wellington at the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Congress in Singapore 2024, pitching Wellington and its communities’ role in promoting the importance of nature in the city. This was acknowledged with a special prize alongside Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne and Mexico City.
City Talks is an ongoing lecture series by the Wellington branch of Te Kahui Whaihunga / New Zealand institute of architects. Going for over a decade, City Talks has been bringing thought provoking presentations from a diverse range of speakers on a wide range of topics related to the built environment. All talks are free of charge, and open to the public in person and online.
No booking required, please click below for the livestream: