| Manukau City | |
|---|---|
| — Territorial authority of New Zealand — | |
| The Manukau skyline looking northwest. | |
| Nickname(s): South Auckland | |
| Manukau City's location within New Zealand | |
| Manukau City's location (shown in orange) within the Auckland metropolitan area. The darker orange indicates the urban area. | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Island | North Island |
| Region | Auckland |
| Wards | Botany-Clevedon, Howick, Mangere, Manurewa, Otara, Pakuranga, Papatoetoe |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Barry Curtis (1989–2007), Len Brown (2007–2010) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 683 km2 (263.7 sq mi) |
| Population (June 2011 estimate)[1] | |
| • Total | 375,600 |
| • Density | 549.9/km2 (1,424.3/sq mi) |
| Time zone | NZST (UTC+12) |
| • Summer (DST) | NZDT (UTC+13) |
| Area code(s) | 09 |
| Website | http://www.manukau.govt.nz/ http://www.arc.govt.nz/ |
Manukau City is a former territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, which was governed by the Manukau City Council. The district is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term did not possess official recognition and did not encompass areas like East Auckland, which was within the official boundaries of the district. Manukau City was a relatively young city, both in terms of legal status and large-scale settlement – though with a current size of 375,600 inhabitants (June 2011 estimate),[1] it was also the third-largest in New Zealand as well as the country's fastest-growing.[2] The city council existed from 1989 to 2010, when the entire Auckland Region was amalgamated under a single city authority, Auckland Council.
The name Manukau, from the Manukau Harbour west of the city, is of Māori origin, and means 'wading birds', although it has been suggested that the name of the harbour was also sometimes rendered as Mānuka, meaning a marker post with which an early chief is said to have claimed the area.[3]
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Manukau City was formed by the amalgamation of Manukau County and Manurewa Borough in 1965. The city expanded in 1989 with New Zealand-wide reorganisation of local government, absorbing Papatoetoe City and Howick Borough, but losing some land to the newly-formed Papakura District. On 1 November 2010 Manukau City Council was abolished and the governed area was amalgamated into the Manukau, Howick, Manurewa-Papakura, and Franklin wards of the new Auckland "super city".
The Manukau City area is concentrated immediately to the south of the Otahuhu isthmus, the narrowest connection between Auckland City and the Northland region and the rest of the North Island. At its narrowest, between the Otahuhu Creek arm of the Tamaki River (itself an estuarial arm of the Hauraki Gulf) in the east and the Mangere Inlet (an arm of the Manukau Harbour) to the west, the isthmus is only some 1500 metres across.
The area to the south of the isthmus contains the heart of Manukau, sprawled on either side of State Highways 1 and 20, the latter of which approaches from the west after crossing Mangere Bridge. The area known as Manukau Central is located close to the junction of these two highways, some 20 kilometres southeast of the centre of Auckland city.
Considerable rural and semi-rural land to the east of Manukau Central was within the city council district. This extended towards the Hunua Ranges close to the Firth of Thames, and took in such communities as Clevedon and Maraetai.
Beyond Manukau City to the south is Papakura and the Franklin district, which are less urban but still part of the Auckland Region and to some extent regarded as an integral part of Auckland's urban area.
Auckland Airport is located in Mangere, in the west of Manukau, close to the waters of the Manukau Harbour. Manukau City includes the theme park Rainbow's End, and one of the oldest shopping malls in the country, now called Westfield Manukau City.
In 2009, work started on a passenger branch railway junctioning with the North Island Main Trunk at Puhinui.[4] The new branch will serve a university campus.
For some years before the 1989 reorganisation of local government, the then Manukau City had the highest population of any city or district in the country.
Like most of the rest of the region, Manukau is ethnically diverse, and is home to many peoples, especially Māori and members of Polynesian ethnicities, with a recent concentration of Asians in and near Howick. It is densely populated by New Zealand standards, despite having very few apartments.
As of the late 2000s, slightly less than 50% of the city's population identifies as European, with 17% as Māori, 27% as Pacific and 15% as Asian, with the balance made up of other groups.[2]
The Manukau City Council district was divided into seven wards during its existence. The names of wards and lists of main suburbs/towns were:
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Howick Ward
Mangere Ward |
Manurewa Ward
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Otara Ward Pakuranga Ward Papatoetoe Ward
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The Manukau City Council was the elected local authority of the city from 1965 until November 2010 when the Auckland Council was created.
Manukau City had an elected Youth Council which primarily acted as an advisory committee and advocate for youth in the city. It is unknown if this Youth Council will be continued with the new Auckland Council.
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