Simon Wilson is the former editor of The Spinoff Auckland, Metro and Cuisine. He joined the NZ Herald as a senior writer in January 2017.
We’re the generation who’ve been there and done that and earned the right to what we’ve got. And changing the world is already in our social and political DNA.
Why isn't our transport planning keeping up with the ideas now transforming the cities of the world? Not radical ideas, just orthodox planning ideas, writes Simon Wilson. Like: banning cars from the middle of town.
Bauer has announced the closure of Paperboy, its acclaimed ‘freemium’ Auckland magazine. Why did its publisher let it perish?
Simon Wilson came back from a visit to Paris filled with enthusiasm for ways to make Auckland better. Here’s the first: a great big bike share scheme.
Simon Wilson eats at Pasture, the restaurant that cooks with fire and fermentation and a very singular vision.
In the wash up from that extraordinary election, Simon Wilson looks at where to now for the new government and the new opposition.
How can Auckland create a bigger, stronger and more rewarding night-time economy? Simon Wilson sets out a 10-point plan.
Simon Wilson wanted to like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and some of it he really did. But then there was the rest of it. And, yes, there are many spoilers.
What exactly, asks Simon Wilson, has the council decided to do about kauri dieback? Why did the Maori board members contradict themselves and which trails have been closed?
The Auckland Art Gallery is under threat - from a council that ought to know better.
The council has voted to close tracks in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park and spend a lot more money trying to stop the spread of kauri dieback. But, asks Simon Wilson, is it enough?
Auckland Transport is busily wrecking the suburbs of the city’s inner west. A long hard look at how that happened – and who's fighting it.
Is it 1.4%, 2.5%, 6.2%, 9% or something else? Simon Wilson explains how much Auckland rates are really going to rise under the mayor’s new proposal – and wonders why some of the reporting has been so confusing.
Last week Auckland Council voted to build an extension on Queens Wharf: a fixed walkway to two moored “dolphin” buoys, stretching 80-85 metres further into the harbour. Simon Wilson was at the meeting and asks, how the hell did that happen?
Team New Zealand manager Grant Dalton didn’t turn up to the council meeting today, to decide where the America’s Cup syndicates should be based. As Simon Wilson reports, he already knew he wasn’t going to get his way.
Auckland Council meets today to debate where to site the America’s Cup syndicates. Simon Wilson has some questions.
Auckland Council has released the city’s new property valuations and some people who should know better have taken the chance to say all sorts of stupid things. Simon Wilson sets them straight.
After the disappointments of West Lynn, Simon Wilson proposes some principles to help the council with its suburban town planning.
The council has been remaking the West Lynn shopping village on Richmond Rd in Grey Lynn, putting in bike lanes, calming the traffic and, they say, enhancing the shopper experience. What, asks Simon Wilson, could possibly go wrong?
Radical populism arises on the left, the right and in the middle. In this essay, from the newly published Journal of Urgent Writing, Simon Wilson proposes a New Zealand option.
Hosting the America’s Cup should be the perfect event for a sailing city like Auckland, shouldn’t it? So why, asks Simon Wilson, is there a risk it’s going to wreck the place?
Simon Wilson has been eating at Pasture, a restaurant that cooks with fire and fermentation and a very singular vision.
Simon Wilson sat down to pick the 5 shows he was most looking forward to in the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival next March. Here are 10 of them. And a few more.
Ports of Auckland has released its brand new long-term plans. Simon Wilson is impressed, but also not impressed.
Mayor Phil Goff has announced the results of his first round of spending cuts and, as Simon Wilson explains, they’re full of surprises – not least for him.
Simon Wilson called the play Te Pō “a masterpiece” when it premiered last year. It’s back for a short return season and he went along to see if he got it right.
