A new "economic snapshot" of the city makes for mixed reading, but Dunedin City Council's economic development unit manager, Peter Harris, said the report did challenge some of the preconceptions people seemed to hold about the city.
Unexpected revelations included demographic information that the number of people aged over 60 in the city would increase in line with national projected trends, rather than at a higher rate.
The council's previous 10-year economic development strategy was released in 2000.
Planning started for the new version about a year ago.
Mr Harris said instead of the council putting together the strategy itself to go out for public consultation, it was decided to go to "key players" to see if they wanted to get involved in its development.
Those organisations - Ngai Tahu, Otago Chamber of Commerce, Otago Polytechnic, Otago Southland Employers Association and the University of Otago - had become involved, and their logos figure on the document.
An economic snapshot of the city had been put together, and would allow those involved to see what the city faced, and get a feel for the attitude of its businesses, Mr Harris said.
That snapshot was now being presented to focus groups, as different industries were asked what sort of barriers to opportunity they felt they were facing.
Up to 20 focus groups would be held this month, with as many as 15 people in each group.
Meetings for all of those groups were intended to be finished by the end of the month.
After that, the draft strategy would be put together, and go out for public consultation later this year.
Mr Harris said the idea of the strategy was to work out whether priorities should be directed towards individual businesses, to industries, such as engineering, or to infrastructure.
"It's about focusing where you put your effort."
Asked about the results of the snapshot, Mr Harris said it depended on which lens one viewed it through.
The document laid out both the positives and the negatives the city faced.
For instance, Dunedin had maintained positive GDP growth between 1999 and the beginning of the global financial crisis, though it was behind the national rate.
"It depends whether you wake up as an optimist or a pessimist."
There were other surprises, such as the rise of the business services sector, such as accountants, lawyers and property services.
The section on business attitudes showed 94% of Dunedin businesses had no intention to export in the future and 56% did not expect to explore any emerging markets.
Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie said the strategy had to be based on the reality of the economic situation.
"It's got to be based on fact."
"We don't need to get down in the dumps, but we do need to work on ways to overcome those trends."
Mr Christie said the strategy needed to bring a clarity of focus, but it would be useless unless people got involved.
Strategy "snap-shot"
Unemployment
Positives: The level of unemployment in Dunedin is similar to the national average.
Negatives: The level of unemployment in Dunedin is higher than the average level of unemployment in the wider Otago region.
Population
Positives: The population of Dunedin has grown since 1997.
Negatives: Dunedin's growth rate is lower than other New Zealand cities, although the difference in growth is getting smaller.
Labour productivity
Positives: Sectors such as business services have relatively high labour productivity.
Negatives: Overall Dunedin's average labour productivity is 11.6% lower than that across New Zealand.
