Wellington is turning brown — not in the colours of autumn or the warmth of earth, but in the stark, suffocating tones of concrete, tarmac, and exhaust fumes. A city once envisioned as compact, green, and people-centred is veering off course. Instead of becoming a model for sustainable urban living, Wellington is hardening into a city built for machines, not people.

The housing stock continues to expand, often in the form of grey slabs — dense, vertical, and uninspiring. In theory, this urban intensification could mean fewer cars. But in reality, Wellington’s public transport system is failing to keep up. With limited bus coverage, unreliable services, and a train network that feels like it’s from a previous century, residents — especially those living on the city’s outer fringe — have little choice but to drive. The idea of car-free living is still, for many, a fantasy.

Meanwhile, four lanes to the planes are becoming a reality. The airport is planning to expand — more tarmac, more flights, more emissions. Unlike cars, where electrification offers at least a pathway to sustainability, aviation remains stubbornly tethered to fossil fuels. Despite the mayor's vocal opposition, and the fact that all three layers of local government (council, regional council, and transport agencies) are dominated by so-called “green” representatives, the project pushes ahead.

Public transport received another blow when the long-awaited Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project was quietly canned. Hopes that Wellington could become a city with fast, efficient, low-emission transport have evaporated — another promise shelved.

The ferry system is another case in point. Plans for newer, cleaner, purpose-built ferries were scrapped and replaced with second-hand vessels — older, noisier, and more polluting. Even modest progress towards greener transport is being reversed.

And then there are the cycleways. A symbol of progressive urban design in many cities, in Wellington they have become a punchline. Poorly planned, half-delivered, and constantly under attack, cycle infrastructure here is more a battlefield than a solution.

Amid this growing disconnect between what Wellingtonians want — cleaner air, safer streets, meaningful climate action — and what is being delivered, it’s worth asking: is the democratic process still working? When a clear majority supports climate-conscious planning, yet power structures repeatedly block or delay change, something is broken.

Talk of civic assemblies or participatory democracy might sound promising, but so far, no serious overhaul of the system has been proposed. We’re told to trust the process, even as the results become harder to trust.

Wellington doesn't need another greenwashed policy or a performative consultation. It needs courage — political, civic, and cultural — to rethink its direction. Until then, we remain a brown city. And we’re getting browner by the day.