"Think of a future Auckland": Public Influencing in Unsolicited Development Proposals.

Building on recent interest in unsolicited urbanism – private sector-led urban development proposals that bypass state-led strategic planning – this paper broadens the focus of existing literature from "back room" deal-making to influence campaigns that occur "in plain sight". Prompted by highly visible unsolicited plans for waterfront redevelopment in Auckland, New Zealand, the paper discusses how public promotion of speculative proposals can be central to unsolicited urbanism. Even when they fail to materialise, the public visibility of such proposals has the potential to normalise property-led development at the expense of alternative visions, and imbue private developers with moral authority as civic visionaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]