Auckland City (informally Central Auckland) is the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. Auckland City is the most populous city in the country, with a population of It lies in the Auckland Region, and the Auckland Regional Council is also based in Auckland City. In 2009, it was rated the 4th best place to live in the world, in human resources consultancy Mercer's annual survey. 

Auckland City is, together with its neighbouring cities, part of the Greater Auckland area. As the term 'Auckland' may refer to the local authority alone, to the whole metropolitan area, or even to the broader region, this may lead to ambiguity, since people from other parts of New Zealand or from overseas often do not draw any distinction.

Geography

The mainland part of Auckland City lies on an isthmus. The Waitemata Harbour, which opens to the Hauraki Gulf, separates the isthmus from North Shore City and north. The Manukau Harbour, which opens to the Tasman Sea, separates the isthmus from Manukau City and the south. Being part of the Auckland volcanic field, much of the isthmus is mantled with volcanic rocks and soils, and several prominent scoria cones dot the isthmus.

Many Hauraki Gulf islands are part of Auckland City. The islands of the inner gulf include Rangitoto, Motutapu, Browns Island, Motuihe, Rakino, Ponui and Waiheke, while the outer gulf islands include Little Barrier, Great Barrier and the Mokohinau Islands.

A significant portion of Auckland's CBD and of the Auckland waterfront is built on land reclaimed over the last 100 years. Substantial development of such under-utilised areas to the west of the CBD has been projected, with large businesses beginning to relocate there as of 2006.

Structure

Governance

In November 1989, central government restructured local authorities throughout New Zealand. After substantial protests and legal challenges, Auckland City was merged with eight smaller local authorities to form a new Auckland City Council. The new city had double the population of the old and the amalgamation set the present-day boundaries of the city. However, amalgamation, forced onto local authorities often against their will, has been criticised to have led to less democracy and higher rates for the same services.

Population

Auckland's population, as the largest and most cosmopolitan city of New Zealand, is made up of 185 ethnic groups.

Lifestyle

While Auckland suffers from the usual issues associated with any large city, it has recently made some inroads against crime, with the period from 2007 to 2008 showing a drop in crimes reported of 4%, while nationally, there was a 1.2% rise. The reduction was mainly attributed to more night-time police patrols and stricter procedure against liquor-ban breaches and similar offenses, with the "disorder" offences (often related to alcohol) dropping 14.4%.

Economy

In the year to March 2009, Auckland City had 353,000 jobs, of which 26.3% was held by property and business services.In 2008 Auckland City had 65,655 businesses and 348,500 jobs, making up 13.1% of New Zealand's businesses and 16.2% of New Zealand's jobs. In 2009 Auckland City had 16% of the total employment in New Zealand. Over 2009 to the month of March, Auckland City's unemployment rate increased to 5.6%, compared to the overall New Zealand unemployment rate of 4.5%. In addition the city's economic output declined by 2.4%. Gareth Stiven, the economic manager of Auckland City, stated that this is because the city's economy is heavily involved with service industries, such as banking and insurance, which are affected by financial crises.

As of 2003 three of the ten largest companies in New Zealand (Air New Zealand, Fletcher Building, and Foodstuffs) are headquartered in Auckland City. Many large corporations were housed within Auckland CBD, the central part of Auckland City.

Air New Zealand has its worldwide headquarters, called "The Hub," off of Beaumont and Fanshawe Streets in Auckland City; the airline moved there from the Auckland CBD in 2006. In September 2003 Air New Zealand was the only one of the very largest corporations in New Zealand to have its headquarters within the Auckland CBD.

Lists

Suburbs

These lists of suburbs are arranged electorally, by the Wards, starting from the west:

Avondale-Roskill

Avondale, Blockhouse Bay, Lynfield, New Windsor, Hillsborough, Three Kings, Waikowhai, Mount Roskill, Sandringham, Wesley, Waterview

Eden-Albert

Balmoral, Morningside, Mount Albert, Mount Eden, Owairaka, Kingsland, Sandringham, Waterview

Western Bays

Grey Lynn, Newton, Western Springs, Point Chevalier, Westmere, Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Freemans Bay, Saint Marys Bay.

Hobson

Inner City ward

Auckland CBD, Epsom, Greenlane, Newmarket, One Tree Hill, Parnell, Remuera, Mechanics Bay, Grafton, Newton.

Eastern Bays

Mission Bay, Kohimarama, Saint Heliers, Orakei, Glendowie, Meadowbank, Saint Johns

Tamaki - Maungakiekie

Glen Innes, Point England, Tamaki, Panmure, Mount Wellington, Ellerslie. Otahuhu, Westfield, Southdown, Penrose, Oranga, Te Papapa, Onehunga, Royal Oak

For the suburbs of the other cities within the Auckland urban area, see North Shore, Manukau, Waitakere and Papakura.

Education

List of schools in Auckland City

Sister cities

Auckland City has six sister cities and two friendship city relationships. All of these cities except Hamburg (Germany) are located around the Pacific Rim:

Sister Cities Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China Hamburg, Germany Fukuoka, Japan Busan, South Korea Los Angeles, California, United States

Friendship Cities Tomioka, Gunma, Japan Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan

Panoramas

See also

• Auckland CBD
• Auckland City Council
• Auckland waterfront
• Queen Street, Auckland

References

1. Mercer - Quality of Living global city rankings 2009 – Mercer survey, 28 April 2009
2. Lessons from the history of local body amalgamation The New Zealand Herald, Wednesday 6 September 2006
3. "Booze crackdown reduces crime", The New Zealand Herald, Thursday 2 April 2009, Page A1
4. " Auckland business and economy report 2009." City of Auckland. Retrieved on 15 September 2009.
5. Eriksen, Alanah May. " Optimistic outlook for city economy." The New Zealand Herald. Tuesday 19 August 2008. Retrieved on 7 September 2009.
6. " Auckland's economy drags but recovery on way." TVNZ. Friday 14 August 2009. Retrieved on 7 September 2009.
7. " The Economy of Auckland’s Central Business District." City of Auckland. September 2003. 10 (20/77). Retrieved on 7 September 2009.
8. Gibson, Anne. " Air NZ readies for headquarters shift." The New Zealand Herald. Monday 14 August 2006. Retrieved on 26 August 2009.
9. International partnerships (from the Auckland City Council website. Retrieved 2006-10-07.)

External links

• Auckland City Council (local authority website for Auckland)
• History of Auckland City by Graham Bush
• Heart of the City (website by the Auckland CBD business' association)
• Heritage Walks – The Engineering Heritage of Auckland Historic text, 360 degree panoramas and heritage imagery accessed through an interactive map.