'"The point is not to get 2 million homes."

"Right now, Auckland Council’s zoning allows people to build about a million shops selling tasty pies. ... Can you imagine it? Auckland with a million pie shops – and hardly anything else.

"Of course it is ridiculous. ... The number of pie shops finds its own level, adjusting as demand changes. There is no 'right' number that can be determined on its own. The right number is found as entrepreneurs take punts and consumers make choices. ...

"When central government asked Auckland to zone to allow up to 2 million additional dwellings, it wasn’t a demand that Auckland build that many homes. Or even an expectation that anyone would ever try to build nearly that many.

"The point is not to get 2 million homes.

"When lots of places can turn into houses, townhouses and apartments when housing needs change, then new housing can just turn up when and where it is needed. Developers watch where people most want to live, look at the cost of developing in different places, and try their luck. ...

"[Councils however] have been reluctant to allow enough new housing to keep up with demand ... [so] as a way of resetting planning culture, central government has mandated that [councils] allow more housing, using numerical targets. ...

"For now, just remember that Auckland allows about a million pie shops. Look around. Do you see a million pie shops?

"Things being allowed does not cause them to exist. But allowing competition changes, and improves, what can exist."

~ Eric Crampton from his op-ed 'The misguided fuss over ‘2 million more’ houses for Auckland'