Four cities inspiring Minto's Auckland - Pictures
On Sunday John Minto launched his campaign for the Auckland mayoralty naming his four key policies - free and frequent public transport, a living wage, building 20,000 council houses and "Robin Hood" rates.
Tallinn: Estonia's capital city, with a population of 425,000, is the largest city in Europe with free public transport. According to Tallinn's city government, after three months of the scheme, begun this year passenger numbers are up 10% and city car traffic has dropped by 15%.
Vienna: Chris Trotter is right to remind us of the magnificent achievements of a left-wing city government in Vienna between 1918 and 1934. During that time 60,000 council houses were built for working people. One of the most famous examples is Karl Marx-Hof, the longest residential building in the world which has 1382 apartments and contains "laundries, kindergartens, pools (pictured above), stores, a clinic, a pharmacy and a post office". Karl Marx-Hof is still municipally owned housing.
Cardiff: When UK Labour's Heather Joyce took control of the council running Wales' capital city in 2012 her first announcement was that 2000 Cardiff Council workers would get a wage increase to ensure that all council staff earned a Living Wage of £7.20 per hour, £1.12p an hour above the minimum wage.
Singapore: One of the world's maritime and financial hubs with a ban on protests and gatherings may seem an unlikely inspiration for Minto's Auckland but the city state has recently raised property taxes on the 1% of most valuable properties as well as investment properties. By targeting these properties with higher taxes, Singapore hopes to curb property speculation.
Some may say that these policies are pipe dreams. But below are pictures of four cities inspiring Minto's Auckland, cities where Mana's policies are reality.
Tallinn: Estonia's capital city, with a population of 425,000, is the largest city in Europe with free public transport. According to Tallinn's city government, after three months of the scheme, begun this year passenger numbers are up 10% and city car traffic has dropped by 15%.
Vienna: Chris Trotter is right to remind us of the magnificent achievements of a left-wing city government in Vienna between 1918 and 1934. During that time 60,000 council houses were built for working people. One of the most famous examples is Karl Marx-Hof, the longest residential building in the world which has 1382 apartments and contains "laundries, kindergartens, pools (pictured above), stores, a clinic, a pharmacy and a post office". Karl Marx-Hof is still municipally owned housing.
Cardiff: When UK Labour's Heather Joyce took control of the council running Wales' capital city in 2012 her first announcement was that 2000 Cardiff Council workers would get a wage increase to ensure that all council staff earned a Living Wage of £7.20 per hour, £1.12p an hour above the minimum wage.
Singapore: One of the world's maritime and financial hubs with a ban on protests and gatherings may seem an unlikely inspiration for Minto's Auckland but the city state has recently raised property taxes on the 1% of most valuable properties as well as investment properties. By targeting these properties with higher taxes, Singapore hopes to curb property speculation.
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