Vot­ing in the Fourth Annu­al Wel­ling­tonista Awards is open from Decem­ber 1–15. Then come find out the res­ults at our Awards Night at Mighty Mighty on Decem­ber 17!

To vote, vis­it this page.

Wel­ling­ton is made up of lots of private spaces, but it’s the pub­lic spaces that really bring the city to life. These are the places that you’ll find us loiter­ing in.

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Cuba Mall: Many of our read­ers nom­in­ated Cuba Mall, or Cuba Street as a whole, and we’ll include the Left Bank and its adja­cent dark alleys to make up a diverse ped­es­tri­an exper­i­ence at the heart of Te Aro. If you believe that pub­lic spaces are for watch­ing and meet­ing people rather than get­ting away from them, then Cuba Mall is the place to be. The archi­tec­ture, shops and cafes are all part of the charm, but more than any­thing else, Cuba is a space made of people.

The Water­front: More of a net­work of spaces than a single space, the water­front is still a work in pro­gress. The fact that some of the new­est com­pon­ents, such as Kumutoto and Wait­angi Park, were singled out for spe­cial men­tion by our read­ers, bodes well for the future. With a com­bin­a­tion of green space, blue space, mar­kets, events, bars and art, the water­front is becom­ing an ever more integ­ral part of the city.

The Basin Reserve: It’s not often thought of as a “pub­lic space”, but the Basin Reserve is open to the pub­lic when there’s no match on, and the com­bin­a­tion of space and his­tory makes it truly spe­cial. No one really knows what will hap­pen with the roads around it, or how much that would affect the Basin itself, but the reac­tion to the pro­posed fly­over proves how import­ant this place is to many Wel­ling­to­ni­ans.

Days Bay: It’s a long way from the city, but the ferry ser­vice makes it one of the most access­ible beaches in the Wel­ling­ton region. The wharf, the cafes, the sun, the bush and the Kath­er­ine Mans­field con­nec­tion all make it an indis­pens­able part of any Wel­ling­ton sum­mer.

Ori­ent­al Bay: Hav­ing such a beau­ti­ful beach so close to the city means that any time Wel­ling­ton gets a little sun­shine, Ori­ent­al Parade is clogged with traffic. Who can blame the masses, though? There’s cafes to drink in, gelato to lick, cro­codile bikes to ride, and walls to climb. You can swim out to the raft or foun­tain (if you’re brave!), get some sun, or sit on top of the rotunda and wish it con­tained a prop­er res­taur­ant instead of the Fish­er­man’s Table. At night, the rich people leave their lights on and you can stare into their apart­ments pre­tend­ing you live there. It’s grand.