Auckland Mayor-elect Len Brown says one of his first priorities will be to start work on sorting out transport.
He says he wants work on fast, efficient rail that can be used as a springboard for economic growth.
Mr Brown will take office on 1 November when the new Auckland Council comes into being. It replaces eight existing councils.
Mr Brown says he want to work to bring a sense of unity to the new city.
He is also looking foward to working in close partnership with the government.
But he's also told the Government that he has a strong mandate to lead the new city and that means they had better listen.
Mr Brown defeated John Banks by almost 65,000 votes. He received 234,459 votes compared with 169,862 for Mr Banks.
Prime Minister John Key says he thinks he will work well with Mr Brown despite their different political persuasions.
New council
The mayor heads a council of 20 with some well known faces, including former Mayors Christine Fletcher and George Wood.
Mr Brown is expected to name his deputy mayor in the next few days.
David Shand, who sat on the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance, says melding what he sees as a mixed bag will be a significant task.
He says the mayor will be able to choose the chairs of committees and he's sure Mr Brown will choose them on their abilities rather than their political partisanship.
Territory at stake - Lee
Meanwhile, Auckland Regional Council Chairman Mike Lee says elected members will have to stake out their territory with the bureaucracy.
He has been elected in the Waitemata and Gulf Ward.
Mr Lee says the first priorities need to be sorting out roles and giving clear directions.
He says it is the elected members who will be set the agenda for the council, not the staff.
Banks not revealing next step
Defeated mayoral candidate John Banks is not being drawn on what his political future holds.
Mr Banks sidestepped a question at a news conference on Saturday about whether he would have a role in the new Auckland Council, joking that the last thing he needed was a job, as he has plenty of work already.
Speaking later to supporters, Mr Banks made no mention of what he planned to do, except to alluded to future political activity. He said there are always more political campaigns.
