46 NZB JUNE 2018
ASHLEY [email protected]
1.3 percent to 14.7 percent when
looking at the provinces.
To some extent cit y drif t is
understandable as jobs still
concentrateonafewlocations
despiteitbeing,inmanycases,
quite unnecessary. The Internet
was once considered a solution to
this as many workers, particularly
in the services sector, could, it was
believed, work remotely.
Despiteafewexceptions,
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have some litigation support work
carried out in rural New Zealand,
this ‘mobility’ has been illusory.
Does the government even have a
population distribution policy or has
it designated areas for economic
growth? If it has – how will this be
achieved and is it desirable?
Directed immigration might offer
some solutions in New Zealand
where immigration volumes relative
to total population are among the
highest in the world. If asking how
this might work, we only have
to look at what happened to the
so-called ‘10 quid tourists’ of the
1950s and 60s. As part of the
assisted package programme they
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prior to arrival.
Here in Spain the government
has determined that city drift has
to be halted or at least slowed
down. It has announced that all
towns of a few hundred people or
more will be connected by 300Mps
Internet within four years. This
isthelatestinaninitiativethatstarted more than two decades ago
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building network was embarked
upon. Spain now has the best
motorway network in the EU.
Thankfully the pollution message
has got through and no further
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planned. Railways are another
matter. It is stated government
policy that every provincial capital
will be linked to Madrid by high
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Spain already has the largest
high-speed network outside China
andanother1500kmsisunder
construction and more planned^1.
Before anyone suggests that
nothing like this is possible in New
Zealand due to low population
and cost, the purchasing power
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some $2000 per capita less than
New Zealand according to latest
World Bank data^2. Spain has
considerable experience in high-
speed railways and builds them
cheaper than any other European
country.THE CASE FOR SUBSIDIES
What the two countries haven’t
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employmentintheregions.Access
to decent infrastructure is a start
but today’s businesses look for
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tax/rates holidays or grants.
Howeveryoudresstheseupthey
are subsidies, but this is nothing
new as many businesses already
receive hidden subsidies. Forexample, it can be argued that any
employee who receives assistance
from the state for rent or other
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subsidy, for the employer.
Having accepted this it should
be a short step to deciding what
regions are deserving of subsidy
and deciding how best to do it.
Lookingaroundtheworldthe most
frequently used subsidies are paid
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new businesses are assisted into
regions. There are many examples
including the Mercedes Benz car
plant in Alabama where all their
4X4s are manufactured.
In addition, government
departments need not be in high
rise city centre locations; for
example, the HQ of HMRC (the- WD[ GHSDUWPHQW LV LQ %RRWOH
outside Liverpool and has been for
decades. Councils, too, could place
their service centres and a majority
of their staff well away from city
centres.
Will government promote
discussion on these issues? In a
country with so many rural towns
in decline here’s hoping something
happens, soon.
(^1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE#/media/
File:HighSpeedSpain.svg
(^2) https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/
NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD?locations=NZ-GB-KR-
IT-ES&year_high_desc=false
ISSUES WITH BALLS
I WAS POISED to write on
another subject for this column
until purchasing a newspaper this
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much like New Zealand in that
its population distribution and
growth is skewed. In the case of
New Zealand, Auckland, Hamilton,
Tauranga and Wellington continue
to grow as the population in other
centres languishes and small towns
struggle.
It is the same in Spain – Madrid,
Barcelona and Valencia (the three
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population while all other provincial
cities decline. Small towns
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and a small but growing number
have been abandoned.
This ‘city drift’ poses real
problems for governments the
world over as resources get
directed to the hot spots, many
of which struggle to provide basic
infrastructure – hospitals, schools,
roads, public utilities, housing,
public transport and more.
The results are there for all
to see especially when it comes
to house prices – just look at
Tauranga as the ‘baby boomers’
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on the ladder at all as prices are
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wages remain lower.
Meanwhile, at the weekend one
of the major papers in Spain had
a feature article on house prices,
which are down in all but the three
main centres on a year-on-year
basis. Prices have dropped by
Turning the tide
WITH PEOPLE AND BUSINESS STILL BEING DRAWN TO OUR LARGEST CITIES, ASHLEY BALLS LOOKS AT
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO STEM THE ‘CITY DRIFT’.