The future of the South Island

Without a thriving Christchurch, the Mainland’s prospects are limited, says Brian Easton.

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18th February, 2012

Christchurch earthquake

Last century when we had ministers of regional development, the policy seemed to be to have greater economic growth in the regions than in the country overall. But these days, a greater emphasis goes on concentrating economic activity in Auckland. This change reflects the realisation that viable industrial growth depends on economies of agglomeration: the clustering together of industries. Economies of agglomeration arise out of larger locality size, which lowers average costs (as long as the economic disadvantage of congestion can be dealt with). This applies particularly to knowledge-based ...

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