Town meets gown - a plan for Auckland's Learning Quarter
Across the globe, leading cities are forming partnerships with universities to drive development and economic prosperity. Here in Auckland city, AUT University, The University of Auckland and Auckland City Council have joined forces to make Auckland's Learning Quarter a world-class centre for education, research and commercialisation. Never before in New Zealand have town and gown come together on such a scale to help shape local and national development.
Home to two of the country's large research-led universities, the Learning Quarter is one of the most significant destinations in Auckland city. On a daily basis over 40,000 staff and students travel to the universities making it the largest travelling population to a single place in the country. A study of The University of Auckland's economic contribution to the Auckland region revealed that in 2005, total direct expenditure impact of the university, its staff and its students was $1.34 billion. If The University of Auckland did not exist, the region would miss out on $662m of direct capital spending.
Recent and future capital investment by the partners in the Learning Quarter is sizeable and indicative of the future standard of developments that will make the Learning Quarter a world-class destination for learning, research and business. Over the next 10 years, the universities will deliver the best of architecture, design and technology to support quality teaching, learning and research and attract top staff and students. The University of Auckland will invest in excess of $1 billion to refurbish and redevelop its city campus and AUT University plans major capital expenditure on its city campus of approximately $150-$200m. Recent investment by the council in and around the Learning Quarter has included the Central Connector, an upgrade of Albert Park and the Auckland Art Gallery redevelopment. The Learning Quarter has the potential to be one of the city centre's most stimulating and prominent visitor destinations for its rich heritage, award-winning facilities, civic buildings, libraries, theatre, art galleries and parks.
As New Zealand's knowledge centre the Learning Quarter has the largest cluster of students, researchers, teachers, innovators and creators in the country. Year after year, the value of university research continues to grow with externally funded research at The University of Auckland totalling $190.6m in 2008, up 45.1 per cent on 2004 figures. Commercial research activities at The University of Auckalnd's UniServices totalled $97.2m. Last year, AUT University was awarded $15.3m of research funding, up 29 per cent from 2007. The universities also continue to play an important role in incubating start-up businesses. Since the establishment of the ICEHOUSE (The University of Auckland's business incubator) and AUT's
Business Innovation Centre, the universities have worked with over 1,050 businesses and raised over $70m in funding.
The Learning Quarter partnership has achieved a number of successes to date including a better understanding between the partners of how their core activities can be harnessed to assist economic development in the city. The Learning Quarter Plan developed by the partners, with support from
Committee for Auckland, marks a significant milestone for the partnership. The plan expresses a common vision for the Learning Quarter and how the partners will work together to guide and help drive economic, social, cultural and physical development in the area over the next 10 years. The plan articulates a number of outcomes:
- making it easier for businesses to engage with the quarter and access research, development and resources
- supporting research strengths and showcasing innovation and creativity
- improving connections to, from and within the Learning Quarter
- creating welcoming public spaces as points of arrival and connection in the quarter
- reviewing the regulatory framework in relation to university master planning, the mix of uses in the area and to balance business and resident needs
- developing a heritage trail for the quarter to raise awareness of its history and heritage features.
The Learning Quarter covers 63 hectares within the CBD. It is a vibrant place exemplified by significant heritage buildings, open spaces, rich cultural assets, a diverse range of events, businesses and a growing residential community.
View the Learning Quarter map (422Kb) PDF
Published July 2009
