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Economic Futures Project

The Auckland region faces an uncertain future as the impacts of the economic recession affect many of its businesses and residents and details of Auckland's future governance are being considered. More than ever, the region needs to be able to adapt to change.

The Economic Futures project is designed to provide a better understanding of the current context in which change is taking place, and what this is likely to mean for the region's economy in the future.

The project was conducted in two parts, and results in two reports.

The first report, "Economic Futures for the Auckland region - Part 1: knowledge base for scenarios development", presents a comprehensive picture of how Auckland region's economy and industry sectors are currently performing.

Economic Futures for the Auckland region Part 1 (777.1 KB PDF)

The second report, "Economic Futures for the Auckland region - Part 2: economic scenarios," presents three economic scenarios and associated modelling results, and, where possible, identifies future challenges for the region. The three scenarios are:

  • Horizon 2031 scenario, which represents our best interpretation of the likely economic future of the Auckland region. It presents a major improvement on previous long-term employment and output forecasts for the region.
  • Digital Auckland scenario, which investigates how investment in ultra-fast broadband telecommunications in New Zealand and Auckland impacts the performance of the regional economy in the future.
  • Energy Efficiency scenario, which presumes less reliance on fossil fuels, enabled by continued technological substitution (innovation) and smarter design and use of energy systems.

In addition, it discusses some of the high-level implications of these scenarios for the Auckland region.

Economic Futures for the Auckland region Part 2 (1.2 MB PDF)

The intention of the project is not to predict the future, but to assess the likely impact on the economy and the environment from a range of plausible scenarios. The aim for the report is to become a reference point for development of regional strategy and policy and guide the design and delivery of specific strategies and interventions. It provides a sound basis upon which future plans and strategic investment can be formulated in Auckland.