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Auckland's CBD - Source: ONE News -
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The mayor of Invercargill is calling for drastic action to stop New Zealand becoming too Auckland-centric.
After the birth of a baby girl in Middlemore Hospital this morning, statisticians say the city now has 1.5 million people, making it home to more than a third of the whole country's population.
By 2030 the city is expected to hit the 2 million mark and house 40% of the population, something Tim Shadbolt said had to be stopped.
"It's devastating for us when you have a system of population-based funding," he told TV ONE's Close Up.
"We face huge pressure... because although we represent 3% of New Zealand's population in Southland we represent 12% of New Zealand's exports and I think that is a factor that should come into play when handing out funding."
Shadbolt said the focus on Auckland was not sustainable and it was up to decision makers to take a stand and introduce policies to create a more balanced approach to the development of the country.
"In Australia, for example, they said new immigrants had to spend two years outside the big cities and it did work for them," he said.
"Is it when 80% of New Zealanders are living in one city when someone will have the courage to say 'look this can't go on!'"
Massey University Sociologist Paul Spoonley said Auckland was growing at a rate of between 20 and 30,000 people per year - double the rate of growth for the rest of New Zealand combined.
"Migration has changed this city," he said.
"In 1990 five per cent of the city was Asian, within the next two or three years 25% of this city will be Asian."
The ratio of people living in Auckland compared to the rest of the country is similar to the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, and Spoonley said it would be difficult to find many other cities that could boast similar statistics.
"London for example is 12 or 13% of the UK population."
The 2006 census shows most Aucklanders are European, but by 2021 predictions are the biggest growth will be in Maori, Pacific Island and Asian cultures.
Deputy Auckland Mayor, Penny Hulse, said the council was prepared to deal with the growth of the city with its 30 year plan, which included the creation of more affordable housing and jobs for young people.
"The key for us is rebuilding infrastructure that has been neglected over decades, and with more people we justify more easily a first class public transport system which is what we're working towards now," she told Close Up.
However, she rejected the idea that Auckland was sucking in people from the provinces.
"People from Auckland are moving out to the rest of New Zealand at quite a rate," she said.
"We're growing because our families are having children and immigrants are coming to Auckland. We certainly aren't gathering up the rest of New Zealand and bringing them here."
Hulse said Auckland was recently voted the third most liveable city in the world, proving the council isn't doing too badly.
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