Geographia Polonica (1978) vol. 39

The New Zealand urban system

Ronald J. Johnston

Geographia Polonica (1978) vol. 39, pp. 109-116 | Full text

New Zealand's role in the world economic system is as a highly efficient producer of primary products, notably from its pastoral industries but also increasingly from its native and exotic forests. It is, however, an urban coun-try. The majority of its population live in towns and cities; some 74 per cent at present live in places with populations exceeding 1000. Approximately one-fifth of the country's three million residents live in its largest metropolitan area, Auckland, whose population is growing at around three per cent annu-ally; a further 22 per cent live in the other three large urban complexes — Wellington/Hutt, Christchurch and Dunedin.Statistical data for urban areas in New Zealand are truly representative of the country's metropoli and major provincial centres; below this level, they refer only to the, often-out-dated, administrative units.

Ronald J. Johnston, Department of Geography, Unievrsity of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom