Immigrated to the South Island of New Zealand.

As a rare developed country in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand, like other countries, faces the problem of unbalanced regional development. The most obvious thing is that the North Island is far stronger than the South Island, forcing New Zealand to implement the policy of developing the South Island. But as a country with only two islands, why is there such a huge difference in regional development?

The territory of New Zealand is mainly composed of two islands, the north and the south, but each island has its own characteristics. The North Island is dominated by hilly lowlands, with dense forests and fertile lowlands. Waikato river is the longest river in New Zealand, located in the North Island. In addition, there are many lakes and rivers in the North Island, and the east coast bays and small ports are dotted.

Source of Shengfeng Bay in North Island. Pexels

Natural differences between the South and North Islands of New Zealand and the distribution of port cities

The topography of the South Island is dominated by mountains, and the Southern Alps run through the western part of the South Island, accounting for half of the area of the South Island. The valleys in the highlands are the concentrated distribution areas of lakes. The west coast of South Island is influenced by the jagged coastline formed by the fjords cutting into the land, while the east coast is the largest plain in New Zealand.

Southern alps is located in the west of South Island, which is a natural watershed of the whole South Island. "southern alps" is generally used to refer to the whole mountain range, and many other small mountains that make up this mountain range have many different names. Source. Pexels

Source of satellite cloud image of South Island. Pexels

1000 years ago, Maori ancestors arrived in New Zealand by boat. After exploring New Zealand, Maori chose North Island as their main residence. The topography of the North Island is relatively small, with fertile lowlands and navigable bay ports. Port is a very important choice for maritime countries. Therefore, after the Maori settled in the North Island, they developed agriculture on the island, used forest resources to develop handicrafts, and built ports to conduct maritime trade with other Pacific islands.

Maori, a native of New Zealand, belong to the Polynesian people of the South Island. The word "Maori" means "normal" or "normal person" in Maori. At that time, when Europeans entered New Zealand, Maori called themselves that. Foreigners call it "Pakha" (meaning "abnormal person"). )。 The picture shows the portrait of Maori chieftain. Source. Pexels

Maori leaders of Britain and New Zealand signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Britain gained the jurisdiction over New Zealand land and officially turned New Zealand into a colony. However, interestingly, the two sides of the treaty have different understandings of this treaty. The Treaty of Waitangi has two versions, the English version and the Maori version. Due to the lack of communication between Maori and English at that time, many terms had different meanings in different language versions, so the two sides naturally had great differences in the content of the treaty.

After the signing of the treaty, the Maori thought that New Zealand still belonged to them, and the treaty was used to point out to the whites and remind them of the exchange at all times. White people think that they have gained "substantial sovereignty".

Followed by the familiar colonial plot, a large number of European immigrants from Europe, mainly Britain moved to New Zealand. After the colonial government and immigrants plundered in disguise and repeatedly fought against Japan, Maori social organizations completely collapsed, a large amount of land was plundered by colonists, and New Zealand was completely reduced to a British colony.

The source of the British "M" pattern in the upper left corner of the New Zealand flag. Pexels

After the European colonists seized the land, they developed animal husbandry, forestry and planting in New Zealand. These were mainly to cooperate with the British colonial agricultural supply policy at that time, mainly to transport raw materials and primary agricultural products to the British mainland. There are many peninsulas and bays and excellent ports in the North Island area, which is very conducive to the export and transportation of raw materials and primary agricultural products. At the same time, many ports make it very convenient for North Island to accept foreign immigrants, and immigrants can also choose to settle in many different ports. In contrast, although the South Island has a large area, it is mountainous and has a low temperature, and its economic development is slightly inferior to that of the North Island. What's more, the South Island is not as good as the North Island, and only the Christchurch area on the west coast has quality ports. Therefore, the North Island gives priority to establishing a preliminary economic production system in the initial stage to promote the rapid development of urban population, while the South Island develops relatively slowly.

In addition to material and geographical disadvantages, political factors also make South Island backward. Auckland is the first settlement after the British colonists landed in New Zealand, and it is also the command center of the colonists, and its status is equivalent to the capital of New Zealand. Then the colonists did make Auckland the capital. North Island is blessed with a layer of political factors. 1865, the new Zealand government decided to move its capital to Wellington in order to realize the balanced development of the north and south islands.

Overlooking the Harbour Bridge and Central Business District in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. Pexels

Overlooking the port and urban resources of Wellington from victoria hill. Pexels

In the 1920s, a large amount of phosphate fertilizer from Nauru entered New Zealand. Phosphate fertilizer combined with the climate in "wet" areas can make the barren soil to be reclaimed in New Zealand grow pasture. The forest and swamp areas such as Waikato, Manawatu and Taranaki began to develop dairy industry. At the same time, the post-war economic prosperity brought about the prevalence of consumerism. At this time, New Zealand positioned itself as a pasture of the British Empire, relying on British investment to develop animal husbandry and transport dairy products. Therefore, in order to meet the huge demand for agricultural products at home and abroad, New Zealand has actively developed intensive agriculture in addition to reclaiming the remaining wasteland in the North Island. This has brought a new round of population growth in the North Island area, and the transformation of forests into pastures has also brought about the emergence of new cities and the expansion of old cities.

New Zealand belongs to a typical temperate maritime climate, which is suitable for the growth source of juicy grass. Pexels

However, these good things only happen in the North Island area. The uncultivated land in South Island is mainly concentrated in mountainous areas, mainly because the lack of high-quality ports in South Island at that time was not conducive to the export of agricultural products, and the traffic disadvantage made South Island unable to catch the express train of the world economy like North Island.

After the end of World War II, New Zealand felt that the overseas supply of wartime materials was difficult, so it began to lay out and build its own industrial system. After 1945, some small industrial enterprises appeared in New Zealand, which developed into enterprises above designated size in the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, New Zealand has adopted a regional development strategy of sacrificing the South Island to develop the North Island. These are the three major industrial zones established in New Zealand before the 1970s, namely Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Of these three industrial zones, only Christchurch is located in the South Island, and the other two are located in the North Island. For New Zealand, an export-oriented economy, towns with land and population are not enough, but ports are also needed. North Island not only has a large number of ports, but also most of them are suitable for developing foreign trade ports. In contrast, only Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island meets the requirements of foreign trade ports.

Christchurch, the third largest city in New Zealand and the largest city in the South Island, comes from.

The development of industry has put forward new requirements for the labor force, and New Zealand has begun to actively introduce mature skilled workers from abroad to provide labor for industrial development. For the sake of industry, labor migration will naturally move to major industrial cities, which will also drive the urbanization of major industrial cities. On the other hand, more and more Maori followed the process of urbanization and began to leave rural communities and enter neighboring cities, thus starting the process of urbanization of Maori. After entering the city, these Maori became cheap labor and engaged in industrial or service production services.

The root causes of the differences in densely populated areas and railway distribution between the South and North Islands of New Zealand. Pexels

However, during the whole post-war economic development period, the industrial distribution in New Zealand was extremely unbalanced. The vast majority of industrial enterprises are located in the North Island, while the South Island has only established a manufacturing system in Christchurch. Because this area is a rare port on the east coast of South Island, it is very suitable for the export of primary industrial products and the import of industrial products.

Therefore, throughout the period of rapid economic development after the war. The industrial development of North Island is faster than that of South Island. By the mid-1970s, 75% of China's industrial enterprises were concentrated in the North Island. Finally, New Zealand's economic structure is strong in the north and weak in the south.

In the 1970s, when the world entered a period of stagflation and depression, New Zealand was naturally hit hard. The global economic crisis has brought about a large reduction in overseas immigrants, resulting in a sharp decline in New Zealand's population. In addition, Britain's entry into Europe made New Zealand lose its traditional export market. Under these two kinds of blows, the urban development of New Zealand has been seriously affected. From the late 1970s to the 1980s, the employment rates in Wellington and Christchurch, the three major industrial areas except Auckland, were in a state of retrogression or stagnation in manufacturing and sales. This phenomenon has promoted the decentralization of New Zealand cities and the adjustment of economic structure.

Stagnant inflation, referred to as "stagflation", swept the world in the 1970s. Pexels

In this stagflation crisis, although the manufacturing and sales industries were depressed, the three major industrial zones began to adjust their economic structures and develop information services. Auckland is ahead of the other two cities, and the growth rate of information service industry in Auckland far exceeds that of the other two cities. Especially in finance, insurance and real estate, Auckland's growth rate is twice that of the other two cities. Wellington and Christchurch not only have to bear the pain of stagnant employment growth and urban transformation, but also disperse the former manufacturing and sales industries, which not only limits the migration of population to cities and urban development, but also causes the decentralization of cities. As a result, the employment growth rate in other parts of the North Island has surpassed that in Auckland. In the rest of the South Island, although the employment growth rate is still less than half that of the North Island, it is still in sharp contrast with Christchurch, where the employment rate is declining.

For the South Island region, this kind of economic restructuring is complicated. The Christchurch industrial zone unique to the South Island can be said to have been greatly weakened. At that time, the development measures of the South Island to disperse the manufacturing industry to other regions hindered the development of the manufacturing industry in Christchurch, which made many industrial departments in Christchurch stagnate or even regress. The corresponding service industry has not been well developed, resulting in the dispersion of cities and industries in this area. Although other parts of South Island have undertaken some manufacturing industries, they have achieved further development of urbanization and industrialization. However, the rest of the South Island has a weak foundation after all, and even if it accepts the manufacturing industry in Christchurch, it has not achieved leap-forward development, but is a slow development trend.

Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand. Pexels

This development trend has also made Auckland gradually form a monopoly situation, and Auckland has gradually developed into the core of New Zealand and the largest city in New Zealand. This has also brought about the backwardness of the development of the South Island and the dissatisfaction of the people. After all, the North Island has two major industrial zones, Auckland and Wellington, and Auckland has a strong leading role. The development of South Island cannot be surpassed naturally. Due to the growing gap between the South Island and the North Island, the New Zealand government finally decided to invest resources to develop the South Island. It is an important plan to balance the development of the north and south islands of New Zealand, drive the whole of New Zealand to achieve balanced development and avoid core dominance.

Auckland skyline source. Pexels

Looking back at the development history of the North and South Islands in New Zealand, we can find that the geographical disadvantage and the long-term political policy of attaching importance to the North and neglecting the South have made the South Island lag behind the North Island for a long time. Although the New Zealand Government has never thought about balancing the two islands, due to various factors, mainly political and economic factors, it has not produced any substantive results in the past. Entering the 2nd/Kloc-0th century, the large-scale development of South Island is also a consideration to balance the development of the South and North Islands, and it is also a political strategy related to the stability and unity between the North and the South of China.

Member of Lopunny Geological Valley

References:

New Zealand: history, nationality and culture. Zhao Xiaohuan and Qiao Xue; History of New Zealand. Filipa Main Smith; Li Guozhi, New Zealand; Wang; Decentralization of New Zealand cities. Characteristics and trends of New Zealand's economic development since 1990s. Authors: Tang Mingjie, Jeikiy.