An expert in public policy believes Auckland has to pave its own path towards governance or risk it unravelling.
A Royal Commission is looking into how the region is governed and David Wilson, Director of the Institute of Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology, says it should resist transplanting any super city models from overseas because they won't work.
Wilson says the cities that are doing the best at governing are the ones that have taken their time in deciding the best option for them rather than having a central government impose a system on them.
He says it is important in local government that people know they can have an influence on local issues and developing a massive bureaucracy risks losing that and wonders how a large bureaucracy could run the whole region.
Wilson says both Auckland and Manukau cities are already at the top end of what works for a democratic local body. He says we need to look at what the right size is for not only economy and efficiencies but also local democracy.
