The news on the population front sounds bad: birth rates are not dropping as fast as expected.

More Australians are coming to New Zealand and fewer Kiwis are crossing the Tasman in the latest sign that the grass may not be greener across the Ditch.

The number of abortions performed has fallen to its lowest rate in almost 20 years,

Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, we certainly will grow from 1.5 million citizens to over 2.5 million by mid century, writes Graeme Easte.

New Zealand is one of the very few countries to have total control over immigration. We have no boat people, few asylum seekers, writes David Blaker.

The Auckland Council is talking up another one million residents in the city by 2041, but it is taking a prudent line when it comes to providing services.

An issue at the heart of Auckland's draft unitary plan is whether the density of housing should be raised in parts of the city.

New Zealanders are beginning to realise the Australian dream is not so perfect and the grass may in fact be starting to become greener over here.

Seattle's an economic engine, a leader in sustainability and a hub for culture and creativity, writes Dr Ann Bartos and John Mauro. It could easily be Auckland.

Editorial: Naturally enough, the Government was keen to put the entire blame for what happened on "politicking" by Labour and the Greens.

Auckland Council's draft Unitary Plan is under attack as people engage with its implications for their backyards and neighbourhoods, writes Joel Cayford. The question confronting city planners and councillors should be how to fix the plan,

Sections of 300sq m are still bigger than we need for a good-sized three-to-four bedroom house, and way too big for a terrace house, writes David Gibbs.

Who wants another million people in Auckland? Len Brown does. Auckland City Councillors do. Auckland town planners do. The Government does. I don't, writes Bryan Jackson.

The majority of migrants to New Zealand feel they belong here, according to new analysis from Statistics New Zealand.

Pacific health experts are calling for a quota on the amount of fatty food exported to the Pacific Islands, where heart disease, diabetes and obesity are the norm.

Nearly 40 per cent of immigrants from China gaining New Zealand permanent residence last year were aged 50 or over, sparking calls for younger migrants.

As a shell-shocked Auckland grapples with how it will cope with a population growth of one million people, the people of Matamata-Piako have the opposite problem.

For most parents of primary-aged children, their school's sense of community, of "family", is vital.

Auckland will be expected to accommodate a million extra residents over the next 30 years, with few plans for new schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. Big super-schools and robocops could provide an answer.

Already-full schools face being made to cram in more students as the Government struggles to cope with the growth in Auckland's population.

Hurrah for the news that more and more New Zealanders are cutting short their OE to return to the (currently brown) grass of home, writes Dita De Boni.

Auckland's universities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new buildings, transforming not only their campuses but the shape of the city they serve.

Asians are dominating in visitor and international student numbers and in most family-migration categories to New Zealand.

Aucklanders have never embraced the kind of concentrated living arrangements envisioned in the Unitary Plan, writes Dick Quax.

It is telling that the increase in immigrants projected in the Auckland Council's 30-year plan has attracted very little comment. Until now, that is.