Latest news with #urbanchallenges
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
The big issues for Auckland's leaders
Auckland is expected significant growth in population by 2034, with another 200,000 people in the region. Photo: Stuff/Chris McKeen Auckland's rapid population growth is considered one of the key challenges for incoming council elected members, a report has revealed. The city's population is expected to jump to 2.3 million people over the next three decades, leaving questions on how Auckland Council will pay for the increased demand on services. Auckland Council's pre-election report, prepared to support the upcoming local elections, lists how leaders can best use resources for the region's future. Key issues identified were productivity and growth, infrastructure investment, asset management, climate resilience, community services and funding. Photo: Council chief executive Phil Wilson, in a statement, said the report will give Aucklanders and its future leaders greater awareness of the opportunities and challenges facing the region. "By 2034 we are projected to see an additional 200,000 Aucklanders joining our diverse community," Wilson said. "That is slightly more than Hamilton being added, in only nine years. This rapid growth brings increased demand for services and infrastructure, such as transport, water services, parks and community facilities." Auckland Council chief executive Phil Wilson. Photo: Supplied to RNZ Auckland was a vibrant and rapidly growing city, and council's elected members face some tough decisions over the next three years on how to pay for that growth on a tight budget, he said. "To accommodate this growth, we must confront the challenges our region faces, while ensuring long-term financial sustainability. "These include addressing Auckland's relatively low productivity and lifting the region's economic growth to support development." Wilson said council exists to be an effective agent for the needs and aspirations of Aucklanders, and good governance should be prioritised. "To ensure this, it's vital that people standing for roles as mayor, councillors or local board members are well-informed as to the state of the city, key challenges and the council's financial situation." Current council strategies respond to growth by integrating land use and infrastructure planning, improving transport networks and advocating with central government for greater input into policy. However, Wilson said more will be required as the council continues to plan for a projected growth of 540,000 people over the next three decades - bringing Auckland's population to 2.3 million. "To increase productivity and influence positive growth, Auckland must address long-standing barriers, including congestion, infrastructure bottlenecks and regulation. "We also want to maintain the council's sustainable financial direction where we affordably deliver the infrastructure and services Aucklanders expect, to help them live their lives better." The council estimates the need to invest $295 billion on maintaining, operating, enhancing and growing Auckland's infrastructure over a 30-year timeframe. "Unlocking the potential created by infrastructure investment is an opportunity to be considered by our elected members, including working with central government agencies and other partners to identify and maximise the opportunities. "Infrastructure investment makes up 86% of the council's total budget to 2034, so it's a significant part of decision-making for elected members." Wilson said council must also respond to greater demand on its community services and an increasingly diverse community, with equally diverse needs. The current services require further investment to ensure they remain relevant, accessible and effective in addressing the changing needs of Auckland's communities, he said. The Pre-Election Report is a legislative requirement under the Local Government Act 2002, where council chief executives must prepare a report independently of the mayor and councillors. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
America's fastest-shrinking cities revealed
Nearly half of America's 30,000 cities will shrink by the end of the century, bringing 'unprecedented challenges' in keeping the lights on and buses running on schedule, researchers warn. Experts at the University of Illinois Chicago say the worst-affected cities could shed as much as 23 percent of people, as residents move out to the suburbs and beyond for cheaper living elsewhere. The hollowed-out cities will struggle to keep up basic services, as providers of public transit, internet cables and other suppliers will struggle to turn a profit after their customers have fled. Falling numbers of tax-paying residents will strain services further still. 'The implications of this massive decline in population will bring unprecedented challenges, possibly leading to disruptions in basic services like transit, clean water, electricity, and internet access,' they said. The finance website Insider Monkey analyzed the data and identified the 15 major US cities that will be hit the hardest. The biggest names are Cleveland, Baltimore, St. Louis, Birmingham , and Detroit. All these cities have been shrinking fast in recent decades as manufacturing jobs dried up. Detroit, once the center of the automotive industry, has been on the decline since the 1950s and is still hemorrhaging people by 1.3 per cent per year, researchers said. That miserable trend looks set to continue. Most of the worst affected big cities are in the rust belt across the Northeast and Midwest. But the impact of lost factory jobs is also a problem further south in Birmingham, Alabama, Memphis, Tennessee, and Columbus, Georgia. The decline in cities is part of a border population decline. America's population will peak at nearly 370million in 2080 before edging downward to 366million in 2100 , says the US Census Bureau. People are also drifting away from the Midwest and Northeast, while parts of the South record growth. Much of this is driven by retirees, who make up an ever-greater share of America's aging population, researchers said. They're budget-conscious and less keen on the high taxes and costs of housing and healthcare in many cities. Eye watering prices are also pushing out young professionals trying to start families. The University of Illinois Chicago's 13-page study suggests that immigration could offset some losses, but warns that the decline poses a headache for mayors and planners over the coming decades. 'Although immigration could play a vital role, resource distribution challenges will persist unless a paradigm shift happens away from growth-based planning alone,' researchers said. US Census Bureau projections released late last year showed that the population will start falling from 2081 to 2100, thanks to lower birth rates, an aging population, higher death rates and cross-border migration . The population growth rate between 2022 and 2100 will be 9.7 per cent, the bureau said – far lower than the nation has grown by throughout most of its history. That change will strain the US economy. With fewer younger, tax-paying workers to support the elderly, officials will struggle to balance budgets and make payouts for Medicare and other welfare schemes. It may also affect Washington's geopolitical standing, as it competes with such rising powers as China and India, which already have more than 1.4billion people each. Sandra Johnson, a demographer at the Census Bureau, said the new projections were 'crucial for shaping policies and planning resources'. They indicated a 'slower pace of population growth through 2060 than was previously projected,' she added. The makeup of the US population, which currently stands at around 332million, also looks set to change. The share of white Americans looks set to drop from 58.9 per cent now to as low as 42.7 per cent by 2060. Meanwhile, the Hispanic population could grow from 19.1 per cent to as high as 27.8 per cent over the same period. The share of black Americans looks set to hold steady at 13 per cent.
