Back in March 2015, the Fairfax Stuff Website published an article citing Mercer’s 2015 Global Quality of Living Index and noting that Auckland was rated the third-highest in the world.
Auckland is the only city in the Southern Hemisphere in the top five.
Wellington rated 12th, behind Sydney at 10th. Vienna and Zurich were rated first and second respectively.
This was the same rank for Auckland in the 2014 survey.
Auckland Council has a stated goal of Auckland becoming the world’s most liveable city, so holding third ranking in the Mercer survey is one independent indicator of progress towards this goal.
Why are surveys and results such as these important to infrastructure management?
As we have highlighted many times on this blog (and will continue to do so), New Zealand is highly ranked in a number of international surveys for quality of life, prosperity, safety, stable democracy, and low levels of corruption.
Our cities also rank very highly for quality of life and liveability.
When international migrants are looking for where to settle, and they have choices, they look at this type of information to make their decisions.
New Zealand is a highly desirable destination for migrants worldwide.
As a result, we are seeing a relatively high level of migration, with the past 12 months, in particular, showing high inward migration numbers.
High migration, particularly for Auckland where so many migrants settle, creates a growth dynamic. This growth then impacts on demand for housing, infrastructure, and other services.
Future growth planning is developed in the Council infrastructure asset management plans and long-term plans.
Growth is a major issue for Auckland and, to a lesser extent, Christchurch/Canterbury, Wellington, Hamilton, and Tauranga.
Inward migration numbers and trends can vary from year to year, and this is something infrastructure management professionals need to keep track to ensure that the planning reflects the reality and changes in demand for infrastructure.
The multi-decade trends indicate continued migration, and managing the infrastructure impacts of this will be a significant ongoing challenge for infrastructure management experts.
The good news is that skilled migrants bring a wide range of benefits to New Zealand’s society and economy, which in turn creates a virtuous cycle and will help New Zealand continue to achieve very high international rankings in key indicators.
[…] As I was describing this to Armand, I was reminded just how strong the New Zealand engineering construction pipeline is as the moment, and that this pipeline is a reflection of a well performing economy. […]