I remember P1 being NOT safezone but still not being a battleground. I think removing this safe-zone will a) getting the rest of NC more population because there is no "advantage" sitting in P1 and b) making NC more the open sandbox world it used to be.
BUT this would require for making the CopBots the badass freezin' (stunning) bastards they were in the past.
just my 5 cents, though