series of pictures from WCC
The map directly above shows the division of suburbs today that exist in the Wellington City Area. The top pictures are a representation of the growth of suburbs and settlements in Wellington from 1900 to 2004. The increasing size and spread of the red dots shows the rapid growth and urban sprawl of settlements in the Wellington City Area over the past century.
As the series of pictures of the Wellington area above show, initially in 1900 the fringe of town focused around Wellington City and the accessible flatland. Between 1900 and 1909 Wellington City sprawled dramatically as settlers flooded into the area. Suburbs close such as Northland, and flat areas such as Newtown, began to grow. From 1910 to 1929 Karori began to be inhabited and suburbs as far from the central city as Seatoun and Ngaio started developing. Between 1920 and 1949 new suburbs further away from the city did not develop as fast, but already existing suburbs grew greatly and housing became more dense. By 1969 suburbs as far north as Paparangi were well developed and the fringe of Wellington was further extended as train lines and transportation was established. Karori also became vastly populated and Island Bay was the southwestern edge of the city suburbs. 1969-1989 suburbs did not sprawl further but once again became more densely occupied. Between 1990 and 2004 the existing suburbs spread, for example the area around Johnsonville spread east and west with the development of Broadmeadows and Churton Park. The fringe of the Wellington City area was no longer confined to heavily populated suburbs either, as farmland was subdivided throughout Ohariu Valley, Makara, Grenada and Takapu Valley into lifestyle blocks. As people overcome problems with topography and accessibility of land they do not need to be focused around larger suburbs and are able to sprawl out.
.
References:
suburbs map from http://www.sellingwellington.co.nz/
urban growth 1900-2004 maps from Wellington City Council
information from Wellington Film Archives
No comments:
Post a Comment