Dr Benno Blaschke: How we solved success by creating failure

Who knew that fixing something that works would become New Zealand’s signature planning move?

In 1988, New Zealand boasted 453 special purpose governance entities. These obscure bodies – Harbour Boards, Electric Power Boards, Land Drainage Boards, among others – committed the unforgivable sin of actually delivering infrastructure. People could vote to tax themselves for specific projects, use that revenue to pay off debt taken on for the project, and build what they needed. Naturally, this had to stop.