The Invercargill CBD could be transformed to include a mall, a museum and an expanded SIT campus.

The Southland Regional Development Strategy report released on Friday (16 October 2015) includes those proposals as part of a vision to increase Southland’s population to 105,000 and make the region more vibrant, the Southland Times reported.

The report, the first stage of the strategy, is a project spurred by the Southland Mayoral Forum and a steering group of local “action people”, business, community and regional leaders.

• Southland Regional Development Strategy – Oct 2015
   (7MB pdf)
  From the document: “This Strategy, initiated by the Mayoral Forum, describes a long term unified approach building on local energy and leadership to deliver growth and change. A balanced economy with strong social cohesion will produce the resilience required to counter the impact of mega-trends such as international commodity price fluctuations, the south to north population drift, the lure of the city and job losses in traditional industries, which constantly threaten the stability of regional economies.”
• Related report – Southland Times