The year is 2021 and Dunedin is basking in the wealth of having the world's largest oil field off its coast. Veteran reporter Hamish McNeilly looks back to 2011.
Dunedin's new-found prosperity has prompted renewed calls for the airport's code to be changed from DUD to DUN.
This is just one of a number of ideas being investigated by the United Otago Council after uncovering an Otago Daily Times article on a residents' wishlist for the city a decade earlier.
Some suggestions in the article, published the day after the All Blacks beat South Africa in the 2011 World Cup final, were adopted by the now defunct Dunedin City Council as part of its Long Term Community Council Plan (LTCCP).
The adoption of that plan - dismissed by some sections of the public as an ''ill conceived World Cup hangover'' - was largely credited by historians as the catalyst for the dissolution of the DCC in favour of creating the Otago-wide council a year later.
However, no pundits could have predicted such a dramatic change in Dunedin's fortunes following the discovery in 2012 of the world's largest oil field off the Dunedin coast.
That bonanza led to an influx of well-paid migrants and international companies to Dunedin, a city largely founded on the gold rush era more than 150 years before.
Now, with public debt throughout the region eliminated and savings secure in many banks, three-term Otago mayor Tim Shadbolt has called for ideas on how to spend more of the council's new-found wealth.
In a surprising move at a virtual council meeting based at Forsyth Barr Stadium yesterday, Mayor Shadbolt produced a copy of the original ODT article, saying the council should investigate some of the ideas put forward by citizens a decade earlier.
Popular ideas from that 2011 article included exchanging the Dunedin International Airport code (DUD) with Greenland's Dundas Airport (DUN), putting a giant water feature in Otago Harbour, running a gondola up Signal Hill, and regular harbourside tourist train pulled by a fully restored Josephine.
Other transport options, including a free bicycle scheme, trams, cable cars, skateboarding parks and free biofuel, were all popular suggestions, driven largely by petrol hitting a high in 2011 of $2.50 a litre for 91 octane.
The arts also featured prominently, but not necessarily because of art lovers.
While the weather has caused their near decay at their Portsmouth Dr site, the Harbour Mouth Molars were a hot topic in 2011, with some quarters calling for the teeth to be extracted.
A decade later, it appears this was one group of residents that had their wish for Dunedin granted at no extra cost for residents.
Other art ideas included a permanent ''Dunedin Sound'' listening booth in the Octagon, free Friday-night concerts, an inner-city sculpture park and a permanent town crier.
Free central heating to reduce the cold and damp of Dunedin homes was an idea ahead of its time, but the large oil and gas reserves off Dunedin helped achieve that ambitious request by 2018.
Other readers also hoped defibrillators would be readily available at
prominent locations, or wanted more CCTV cameras, fewer CCTV cameras, the Octagon carriageway to be closed to traffic, or the city to be recognised internationally for its literature.
One of those asked for their ideas in the year leading up to the adoption of the plan, Dunedin-based writer Lynley Hood, said she would like the city to be recognised as a Unesco City of Literature.
''Having a poet in the middle of the city is a good start,'' she said back in 2011 in reference to the statue of Robbie Burns in the Octagon.
Dunedin had a rich history centred around the spoken and written word and having this recognised by Unesco would be an attraction for visitors, she said.
Other centres to be recognised as a City of Literature are Dunedin's sister city Edinburgh, Iowa City, Melbourne and Dublin.
Ngai Tahu Maori Law Centre manager Joy Smith said there were no particular pet projects she would like for the city, other than for the city's stadium to be ''absolutely booming''.
''I want to see lots of concerts, like Elton John, and I think if that stadium booms, then Dunedin will boom.''
Also with the stadium in mind was Mark Scorgie, managing director of The Gourmet Ice Cream Company.
Mr Scorgie said he would like trams to link the stadium and the railway station, taking passengers to the Exchange, where passengers could then catch a cable car up High St.
''I can see a network of tourism attractions all linked up to the stadium and through the Exchange area, which would make [Dunedin] a bit like Melbourne.''
In addition, he also wanted the Harbourside area to be developed, particularly the Steamer Basin site left vacant after the Otago Regional Council put its plans for a new office on hold.
University of Otago chaplain the Rev Greg Hughson said that in 10 years' time, he would like to see less violence on city streets and behind closed doors.
Many families were struggling financially and that strain was placing pressure on the family unit.
Mr Hughson said he would also like the gap between rich and poor to close, rather than widen.
Anglican Family Care director Nicola Taylor said she would like to see an end to children living in poverty.
''My dream would be to no longer have one in five children living in poverty in this country, and for families to be able to manage their own circumstance and provide for their children.''
Allied Work Force branch manager Ken Schumacher said, ''Most people don't know just what they have in their backyard.''
In addition to the city having clean water, and sewerage facilities, he wanted Dunedin to develop its harbourside, ''but not at the expense of local businesses''.
''She is a bit of an eyesore in parts.''
Advocating a new type of core infrastructure was Cargill Enterprises general manager Derek King. He supported free wireless broadband access for Dunedin City.
Also supporting new technology was Alan Richardson, New Zealand Trade and Enterprises regional manager for Otago and Southland.
To develop the city's burgeoning information communication technology sector, he wanted old buildings between Princes St and Cumberland St to be ''revitalised to cater for the demand for intellectually enriching work spaces and homes''.
''This development would require world-class communication infrastructure and benefit from easy walking access, at Rattray St, to the harbourside and its tracks.''
Also wanting the city to become a hub was Edinburgh Realty property consultant James Columb, who wanted Dunedin to ''be a dynamic hub for a business school of excellence that not only educates but offers business and job opportunities''.
With the completion of the stadium and Dunedin Centre, the city had the potential to become New Zealand's premiere event destination, capable of hosting world-class conferences and events.
To support these developments already under way, the city needed to be viewed as the ecotourism capital of the world, have a fully dedicated cruise ship port, a five-star hotel and an increasing number of international flight connections, he said.
''And to have a winning rugby team that are a joy to watch and [that we] can be proud of,'' Mr Columb said in 2011.
Now, that was Dunedin dreaming.
