Dunedin is about to embark on a major programme of consultation, with residents to be asked their opinion on the city's future.
The results of the consultation will help shape the various strategies that underpin city policy.
Mayor Peter Chin said yesterday it would be the council chosen after this October's elections that would be making the final decisions.
"This council is very much aware of the fact the decisions won't be made by this council, but the incoming council," he said.
The programme, estimated to cost $207,000, is planned to run for 12 months and will, in part, update the Choices for the Future programme that was held in 2001.
The first meeting for the new programme, called Your City, Our Future, will be a "futures forum" of about 200 people, to be held on July 20, with those invited ranging from the Salvation Army to the Otago Rugby Football Union.
The forum will include a presentation on issues the city is facing, such as the state of the economy, climate change and peak oil, with questions to be discussed including where the city is now, and what sort of city is wanted in 30 years' time.
The council and interest groups would develop the programme, and the new council would analyse the results, before community-wide consultation next year, which would include the use of social media sites.
The results would form a part of the council's strategic plans, including the community plan, the economic development strategy, sustainability framework and district plan.
Cr Richard Walls said change was inevitable, and the city needed to reflect on the changes that had occurred.
Dunedin had come a long way since an aluminium smelter was seen as a solution to its problems, he said.
He said those "who sit back and like to criticise" should instead come forward and have their say on the city's future.
