How many people do you want to share NZ with

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Forums › Politics › How many people do you want to share NZ with

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#2681235 26-Mar-2021 17:59

Assuming I had a magic wand where infrastructure could magically appear then I'd be happy with a population of around 50-60 million which would give NZ a decent population to provide economies scale and make it worth while for businesses from outside NZ to setup here (along with many other benefits).

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#2681237 26-Mar-2021 18:13

matisyahu:

Assuming I had a magic wand where infrastructure could magically appear then I'd be happy with a population of around 50-60 million which would give NZ a decent population to provide economies scale and make it worth while for businesses from outside NZ to setup here (along with many other benefits).

So you'd be happy to see ten people for every one person you currently see on our beaches, national parks, rivers, recreational sea areas etc? Because you can't make more of those, no matter how much infrastructure you build. That's a vision of horror to me

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#2681243 26-Mar-2021 18:34

matisyahu:

Assuming I had a magic wand where infrastructure could magically appear then I'd be happy with a population of around 50-60 million which would give NZ a decent population to provide economies scale and make it worth while for businesses from outside NZ to setup here (along with many other benefits).

I'd go for 10. Double every city and town. Its till small but its better economies of scale wise. Is it ideal? No. But neither are sardines. Quality of life.

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#2681244 26-Mar-2021 18:36

shk292:

matisyahu:

Assuming I had a magic wand where infrastructure could magically appear then I'd be happy with a population of around 50-60 million which would give NZ a decent population to provide economies scale and make it worth while for businesses from outside NZ to setup here (along with many other benefits).

So you'd be happy to see ten people for every one person you currently see on our beaches, national parks, rivers, recreational sea areas etc? Because you can't make more of those, no matter how much infrastructure you build. That's a vision of horror to me

At least my 1/4 acre lawns will be a cubic foot! Horror to me too. I'd rather free range and pay for it then be a caged chicken, even though its cheaper and more efficient.

Lias

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#2681285 26-Mar-2021 22:12

I think we're already overpopulated.. I'd like us to go back down to somewhere around 2.5-3 million.

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#2681286 26-Mar-2021 22:45

Auckland can't even a reliable water supply for just 1.6 million people, doubt it can support any more.

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#2681293 27-Mar-2021 00:53

One of the things that makes NZ attractive to tourists is our small population, and tourism is one of our big industries next to housing and milk. IMO if we do want to grow our population, it should be planned and feasibility studies carried out etc, unlike the mess that is currently happening. Currently we were importing 70,000 people each year, when we have a shortage of 80,000 houses. That is madness. We would also really want to concentrate the population in a few areas. Auckland is the obvious city to grow. But increasing density of urban areas vs urban sprawl isn't easy. If you had 20 houses in a street originally, and want to increase it to 200, then increasing the infrastructure to increase th3 density requires a substantial amount of work and money.

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#2681294 27-Mar-2021 00:55

Lias:

I think we're already overpopulated.. I'd like us to go back down to somewhere around 2.5-3 million.

We are for the current infrastructure and resources. Billions and billions would need to be spent to just to double our population. Does anyone think the Auckland Harbour Bridge could cope with much more transport. eg Double?

sidefx

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#2681303 27-Mar-2021 08:41

shk292:

matisyahu:

Assuming I had a magic wand where infrastructure could magically appear then I'd be happy with a population of around 50-60 million which would give NZ a decent population to provide economies scale and make it worth while for businesses from outside NZ to setup here (along with many other benefits).

So you'd be happy to see ten people for every one person you currently see on our beaches, national parks, rivers, recreational sea areas etc? Because you can't make more of those, no matter how much infrastructure you build. That's a vision of horror to me

Not that I disagree with you, but it's a double-edged sword. I probably sit somewhere in the middle - I reckon NZ could definitely support a bigger population with the benefits that come with that, especially if the economy was not as reliant on agriculture\farming as it is..... But as @matisyahu alludes to it would need a magic wand to expand not only infrastructure but also national parks, beach access, etc.

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#2681313 27-Mar-2021 09:06

Interesting topic and good that is staying away from xenophobia. I agree you could basically double in size every small town and wouldn't really notice any difference, I live in and near a few now in the South Island. Waimate for example is having some great investment to make it an attractive place to live, fancy bar and restaurant on the main corner for example. But it's only about 7000 people, really needs to be 20000 to have that mass to support these kind of main streets long term. Germany has lots of light/tech industry in these sorts of places all over the country whereas NZ doesn't. At least anymore. Japan for example has approx 1/3 more land area than NZ, similar mountain % but 120 million. Don't really need to grow the main centres, although Auckland and satellites could take 5million and not look radically different - imaginative infrastructure like a causeway over to South Head, reclaiming parts of the Manukau Harbour, and good transport to less fertile surrounds plus intensifying the minor centres, Taka, Manukau, Henderson e.g.
The only thing clean and green about NZ is the very low population which absorbs our not very sustainable lifestyles.

shk292

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#2681342 27-Mar-2021 12:21

jonb:...
The only thing clean and green about NZ is the very low population which absorbs our not very sustainable lifestyles.

Yep, so an analogy would be, would you rather share an average house with four slightly messy people or twenty extremely tidy ones?

I get that you could increase the population of NZ and that we wouldn't starve or have to live in rabbit hutches. I just can't understand why anyone would want to do this. Google "Bournemouth Beach crowds" then imagine this on Takapuna, Orewa etc. You can't build another Hauraki gulf or Bay of Islands

If the benefit is cheaper consumer goods and better public transport, I'll pass thanks

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#2681416 27-Mar-2021 14:22

spaceknight:
Auckland can't even a reliable water supply for just 1.6 million people, doubt it can support any more.

That’s due to incompetence rather than lack of availability.

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#2682017 28-Mar-2021 14:56

matisyahu:

Assuming I had a magic wand where infrastructure could magically appear then I'd be happy with a population of around 50-60 million

I wouldn't want anywhere near that population. If you want to live somewhere which has been completely concreted over, there's plenty of places overseas that have tried that already and they're not great places to look at.

If we think there's a lack of infrastructure, we need to increase our taxes to pay for it. While we're locked in a political era of tax un-palability , the electorate can't have their cake and eat it too.

I'm happy at 5 mil.

Anyone who thinks doubling the polulation will lead to a doubling of every town and city neglects the primary city effect. An extra 5 million population will just lead to an extra 4.5 million for Auckland.

Enjoy your traffic jams ......

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#2682042 28-Mar-2021 16:35

Not that I disagree with you, but it's a double-edged sword. I probably sit somewhere in the middle - I reckon NZ could definitely support a bigger population with the benefits that come with that, especially if the economy was not as reliant on agriculture\farming as it is..... But as @matisyahu alludes to it would need a magic wand to expand not only infrastructure but also national parks, beach access, etc.

I’m not sure you’d need to increase beaches or national parks. Not that I’ve measured, but it feels like we have about the same amount of beaches and national parks as the UK and it’s perfectly possible to stand in the middle of Dartmoor and see nobody, camp there in your tent for several days and still see nobody. Likewise plenty of windswept lonely beaches etc.

What NZ does lack is access to the countryside in anything like the widespread network of footpaths and bridle ways that crisscross Britain.

Mehrts

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#2682043 28-Mar-2021 16:42

Call me a selfish bastard, but I'm happy with our current numbers. Or less.

Sure, with greater numbers comes better economy of scale and whatnot, but I also like having space which is free of other humans. It's nice to be able to bugger off somewhere and not see a soul for miles.

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