Green Economy Journal Issue 60

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The City-State/
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Compactness and strategic
investment decision-making
are key factors in Taiwan
and Singapore’s success.
Infrastructure
Nexus
SINGAPORE, NEW ZEALAND AND TAIWAN AS CASE STUDIES
BY LLEWELLYN VAN WYK, B. ARCH; MSC (APPLIED), URBAN ANALYST
In the previous issue of this journal, I examined the
relationship between Singapore as a City State
and the condition of its infrastructure networks.
Infrastructure networks is a useful way of conceptualising the system
of infrastructure design and development. Infrastructure networks
are systems that provide essential services for people. 1 They include:
• Transport. Public transport, roads, railways, airports, ports, etc.
• Energy. Power generation, transmission, distribution,
storage, etc.
• Water. Water supply, treatment, distribution, storage, etc.
• Waste. Waste collection, recycling, reuse, disposal, etc.
• Sanitation. Wastewater collection, treatment, reuse, recycling,
disposal, etc.
These individual systems are co-dependent on other infrastructure
systems, often with energy being the common denominator. Ultimately,
an infrastructure network is a network of networks. These infrastructure
networks can have significant impacts on the environment, the
economy and the quality of life of communities. 2
I have also previously alluded to the cause-and-effect debate around
infrastructure investment and economic growth. In the past, research has
attempted to estimate the productivity of infrastructure investments.
Studies seeking to link aggregate infrastructure spending to GDP growth
show very high returns in a time-series analysis. Other cross-national
studies of infrastructure spend and economic growth also show that
infrastructure variables are positively and significantly correlated with
growth in developing countries. However, the World Bank notes that in
both types of studies, “whether infrastructure investment causes growth
or growth causes infrastructure investment is not fully established.” 3
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Llewellyn van Wyk.
That report noted that “there may be other factors driving the growth
of both GDP and infrastructure that are not fully accounted for” and
furthermore “neither the time-series nor the cross-sectional studies
satisfactorily explain the mechanisms through which infrastructure
may affect growth.” More critically from the perspective of this thinkpiece,
the World Bank report notes that “there is a suggestion that
infrastructure has a high potential payoff in terms of economic growth,
yet they do not provide a basis for prescribing appropriate levels, or
sectoral allocations, for infrastructure investment.” It further notes that
“other evidence confirms that investment in infrastructure alone does
not guarantee growth”.
It is also not clear whether these studies have factored in the longterm
maintenance costs associated with the initial capital investment.
CASE STUDY
When discussing infrastructure networks, it is quite useful to
compare Singapore to New Zealand and Taiwan. They are all island
states with both Taiwan and Singapore being small countries, and
they all have highly-developed economies.
Singapore
The land size of Singapore is 728.6 square kilometres with a population
of 5.454-million resulting in a population density of 8.019.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2019
ranked Singapore at 1 overall. Its infrastructure quality was also
rated at 1 overall. Road connectivity was not ranked as data was
not available for the report, but the quality of road infrastructure
was rated at 1, railroad density at 1, efficiency of train services at
5, electricity access at 2, electricity supply quality at 2, exposure
to unsafe drinking water at 25 and reliability of water supply at 7.
New Zealand
The land size of New Zealand is 268 021 square kilometres with a
population in December 2022 of 5.15-million resulting in a population
density of 19.21 per square kilometre. Of the roughly 5.1-million
people, about 1.6-million live in Auckland, 381 500 in Christchurch
and 212 700 in Wellington. This means that almost half of the total
population resides in three major cities in the country, with the
remainder of the population dispersed across South and North Island
in small towns and villages all of which need to be serviced by both
hard and soft infrastructure.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report
2019 ranked New Zealand at 19th overall. It ranked New Zealand’s
overall infrastructure at 46, road connectivity at 51, its quality of
roads at 52, railroad density at 50, efficiency of train services at 42,
quality of railroad infrastructure at 41, electricity supply quality
at 40, exposure to unsafe drinking water at 29 and reliability of
water supply at 36.
In recent years, New Zealand has invested around 4.5% of gross
domestic product (GDP) in network infrastructure (electricity,
telecommunications, transport and water) and social infrastructure
(education and health). 4 However, New Zealand’s infrastructure hole
has been estimated at $210-billion, requiring an annual spend of
10% of GDP for the next 30 years to build the new networks needed. 5
There is a strong debate in Auckland about its future growth pattern
– compact urban city versus urban sprawl. While the city’s Unitary
Plan seemed to lean toward urban sprawl, the recent flooding, slope
instability and infrastructure damage caused by the cyclonic activity
which impacted on the country over the past two years has caused
a rethink, with consideration now been given to areas previously
earmarked for urban expansion reverting back to rural land zoning. 6 As
Louise Johnston, the Dairy Flat Representative on the Rodney District
Board notes, “The cost of the infrastructure is one thing that cannot
be debated. Greenfield development costs billions and developer
contributions don’t come close to funding even the basic infrastructure
(roading, waste and water). However, when urbanising greenfield areas
on a large scale, we can’t just focus on the infrastructure within the
development – the surrounding road networks and connections need
to be upgraded to cope with the thousands of extra cars on the road.
How this infrastructure is to be funded is an unanswered question.
Council’s financial woes are well documented: the cash-strapped
council doesn’t have the financial means to fund the operating costs
of its current community facilities in the long term, let alone build
new ones to make new urban areas liveable.”
Taiwan
The land area of Taiwan is 31 197 square kilometres with a population
of 23.9-million giving a population density of 676 persons per square
kilometre. In recent years, Taiwan has invested 5.6% of gross domestic
product (GDP) on economic infrastructure. However, Taiwan has a
high per capita GDP of USD32 811 in 2020, and a well-developed and
efficient network infrastructure that sets the country apart from others.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2019
ranked Taiwan at 12th overall. The overall quality of infrastructure was
ranked at 16th. Road connectivity was ranked at 81, quality of road
infrastructure at 12, railroad density at 22, efficiency of train services
at 8, electricity access at 2, electricity supply quality at 8, exposure
to unsafe drinking water at 38, and reliability of water supply at 45.
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