A review of political thinking on regional development in New Zealand

Abstract

Among the earliest references to regional development is that contained in the report on the location of industry in Great Britain published by the Political and Economic Planning Group in 1939. Britain was emerging from the severe economic depression of the 1930s but it was evident that for some parts of the country economic improvement would be very slow. In these areas were concentrated industries which had been at the forefront during the late 19th Century but which had been in decline since the 1920s at least - industries such as iron and steel making, shipbuilding and heavy engineering. Regional development was to be a government-led action to ameliorate or overcome the problems faced by such areas. Regional development was understood to be the government-led revitali- sation of depressed economic areas. Although the 'problem' of declining or disadvantaged regions was disguised during World War II, the late 1940s saw its reappearance together with the formulation of what was to be Britain's longstanding policy for the location of industry. Regional development then became an important component of economic development policy in Britain. Thus defined, regional development appeared to have little relevance to New Zealand. There was no concentration of out-dated heavy industry in this country. The economy was based on primary, pastoral production which at the time found a ready market. And, despite the apparent mobility of New Zealanders, there was no evidence of seriously underutilised social capital. Yet as early as 1948 Hogben (1948) concluded that both manufacturers and inhabitants of smaller towns would benefit from the decentralisation of manufacturing. In the 1950s and 1960s W B Sutch, while Assis- tant Secretary and later Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce, promoted the idea of decentralised economic activity. Such suggestions reflected thinking in Britain at that time rather than conditions in New Zealand which were, in fact, very different.