The year is 2030. The place, Aotearoa – but not as you know it, writes Doug Gaylard.
For a start, it’s bigger: the population has eclipsed five million. A full fifth are 65 or older. Fewer women are having children, and so that growth is mostly down to migration, from Asian countries in particular. Most people are living in urban centres, probably Auckland – still our largest city by far. There are fewer people living in the regions, and those that do are elderly. Some rural and provincial towns have all but closed after a decade-long spiral of economic decline.
No one works just one job anymore. Those of us who are lucky enough to be employed probably juggle a variety of short-term and contract roles, and we all compete for work with the rest of the world. As such we’re spread all over the globe, with migration to and from Australia especially free. But human capital is New Zealand’s biggest asset, no matter what country we call home.
We asked Doug Gaylard to take a tongue-in-cheek look at marketing the Aotearoa of the future.
Photos from Photo New Zealand.
This content is brought to you with funding assistance from New Zealand On Air.
