Can value capture help pay for new infrastructure?
When we build new infrastructure that connects places to useful destinations or opens up development opportunities, it lifts the value of properties in the surrounding areas. This is pretty intuitively sensible: Holding all else equal, most people would be willing to pay a bit more for the convenience of having, say, a fast and reliable public transport route nearby.…
61 Comments Connecting cities: it’s a matter of scale
New Zealand is a long way from the rest of the world. It takes three to four hours to fly from Auckland to the big eastern Australian cities; over half a day to reach the US West Coast or Southeast Asia; and most of a day to reach Europe.…
Reviewing the OECD’s economic review
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the ‘rich countries club’, conducts an economic survey of its members. They just published their latest (2017) edition for New Zealand, which makes for some interesting reading.
While the OECD’s reviews reflect its own views about what’s going right and wrong in its members’ economies, it sends staff to check out things on the ground.…
Broken Business Cases
A few weeks ago, Steven Joyce spoke regarding traditional cost-benefit basis, here is what he said reported in NZ Herald:
Some projects in Auckland, such as the City Rail Link, did not stack up on a traditional cost-benefit basis, he said, although the Government has committed to funding for it.”…
Sunday reading 23 April 2017
Welcome back to Sunday reading. I apologise for the continued hiatus in general blogging – unfortunately it’s likely to continue through at least part of May. (Deadlines and exams…)
One of the fundamental questions of the 21st century economy is why the demand for agglomeration and physical presence has strengthened even as telecommunications have become cheaper.…
Development Update: April 2017
Industrial is important
In more than two years of Development Update posts, I’ve hardly ever mentioned industrial development. It’s hard to show in a map like the RCG Development Tracker, so I don’t cover it there.
But even in a modern economy like Auckland, with a strong services base, industrial properties are important.…
Sunday Reading 9 April 2017
Welcome back to Sunday Reading. First, here is a bit of housekeeping. After a wild ride our fundraising drive reached it’s goal yesterday. Thanks to all who contributed. Over the next couple of week we will begin fulfilling the rewards including the CFN 2.0 poster.…
Research: Drivers of Firm Location
Cities that wish to foster high-growth entrepreneurship should work to improve quality of life factors, increase the supply of talent and expand access to clients and vendors. –What the Best Entrepreneurs Want in a City The dense urban centres of big cities have never been more important.…
3. The City unleashed
Last month I was asked to write an article for Metro Magazine on transport in Auckland, it ran in the December issue and now can be seen on Metro’s site here. Because transport is of course, quite literally, just a means to an end it is really about Auckland itself.…
6. Where does New Zealand’s economy happen?
Vox recently published a list of “surprising maps” that documented counterintuitive or little-known facts about the world. Number 15 on the list was this map, which shows that 50% of US GDP is produced in a mere 23 urban areas: This map shows the economic importance of cities, which are tremendously productive precisely because they concentrate a lot of skills, ideas, and capital in a small area.…
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