South Auckland
Encyclopedia
South Auckland is an imprecisely defined area of Auckland
, New Zealand
, often stereotype
d as a socio-economically disadvantaged
, and sometimes rough, urban area
with a relatively large Polynesia
n and Māori population. The name South Auckland is not an official place name but is in common use by New Zealanders
. It is also used in the names of some organisations and companies.
Since the 1970s the term "South Auckland" has had negative connotations with outsiders, being associated with deprivation, crime and violence. When street crime
occurs in the area, the mass media tend to use the generic "South Auckland" phrase, with its vague and unfortunate stereotypes, rather than the correct name of a suburb or territorial authority. Previous Manukau City mayor Barry Curtis tried to discourage use of the name because of its negative connotations. Many South Auckland youth, however, use the name with pride.
but including Papatoetoe
, Mangere
and Manurewa
. Broadly speaking, South Auckland is the urban area stretching from at the very least the narrowing of the Auckland isthmus at Otahuhu, southwards through the Manukau City suburbs lying to the west and near east of Auckland's Southern Motorway (State Highway 1), to Pakuranga
. The area does not include the more well-to-do, eastern and northern Manukau City suburbs such as Howick
nor the large rural area of Manukau City. The name does not include Franklin District
, which lies south of Papakura
.
Prior to the 1970s, South Auckland encompassed the region from Otahuhu south to Mercer, and from the west coast to the Firth of Thames
, including the southern towns of Pukekohe
, Tuakau
and Waiuku
.
Auckland Airport is located in South Auckland, as well as several other places of interest, including the amusement park Rainbow's End
, the Auckland Botanic Gardens
and one of the oldest shopping malls in the country, now called Westfield Manukau City
.
Some of the suburbs in South Auckland contain predominantly state housing
and are the poorest suburbs of Auckland. The area also contains the industrial heartland of Auckland (Mangere, Otahuhu, Manukau CBD, and the Port of Onehunga), with workshops, factories and warehouses providing work for many Aucklanders.
(European New Zealanders) and Asian
s as well as a relatively high proportion of Polynesia
ns and Māori. This gives it a very cosmopolitan feel and a thriving culture, especially at street level, most often seen by visitors at the Saturday markets at Otara, Manurewa and Mangere.
Manukau City, before its amalgamation, used the slogan "Face of the Future" to reflect its youthful demographic, having one of the highest proportion of people under 18. South Auckland is also a major centre of hip hop culture and music in New Zealand.
People who hail from South Auckland include Olympic champion John Walker, mountaineer Edmund Hillary
, and former Prime Minister David Lange
. Many successful sportspeople are South Aucklanders; including rugby players Jonah Lomu
and Eric Rush
, rugby league player Ruben Wiki
, heavyweight boxer David Tua
, cricketer Daryl Tuffey
, kick boxer Mark Hunt
and hip hop music artists Young Sid, DJ Sir-vere, Savage
and P-Money
.
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, often stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
d as a socio-economically disadvantaged
Social class in New Zealand
Class in New Zealand is a product of both Māori and Western social structures. New Zealand was traditionally supposed to be a 'classless society' but this claim is problematic in a number of ways, and has been clearly untrue since at least the 1980s....
, and sometimes rough, urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
with a relatively large Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
n and Māori population. The name South Auckland is not an official place name but is in common use by New Zealanders
Culture of New Zealand
The culture of New Zealand is largely inherited from British and European custom, interwoven with Maori and Polynesian tradition. An isolated Pacific Island nation, New Zealand was comparatively recently settled by humans...
. It is also used in the names of some organisations and companies.
Since the 1970s the term "South Auckland" has had negative connotations with outsiders, being associated with deprivation, crime and violence. When street crime
Street crime
Street crime is a loose term for criminal offences taking place in public places. It has moved to occupy the place once held by mugging. According to London's Metropolitan Police Force, street crime is:...
occurs in the area, the mass media tend to use the generic "South Auckland" phrase, with its vague and unfortunate stereotypes, rather than the correct name of a suburb or territorial authority. Previous Manukau City mayor Barry Curtis tried to discourage use of the name because of its negative connotations. Many South Auckland youth, however, use the name with pride.
Geography
The heart of South Auckland is the low socio-economic suburbs of Manukau City, typified by OtaraOtara
Ōtara is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tāmaki River , which extends south towards the Manukau Harbour...
but including Papatoetoe
Papatoetoe
Papatoetoe is a suburb in the Auckland conurbation in northern New Zealand. One of the larger suburbs of the area commonly known as South Auckland, it is located to the northwest of central Manukau, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland city centre....
, Mangere
Mangere
Māngere is one of the larger suburbs in South Auckland, in northern New Zealand.The suburb is located on flat land at the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of the centre of Manukau city and 15 kilometres south of Auckland city centre...
and Manurewa
Manurewa
Manurewa is the southernmost major suburb of Manukau City, one of the four cities that make up the metropolitan area of Auckland in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 6km south of the Manukau City Centre, and 26km southeast of the Auckland CBD....
. Broadly speaking, South Auckland is the urban area stretching from at the very least the narrowing of the Auckland isthmus at Otahuhu, southwards through the Manukau City suburbs lying to the west and near east of Auckland's Southern Motorway (State Highway 1), to Pakuranga
Pakuranga
Pakuranga is an eastern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. Pakuranga covers a series of low ridges and previously swampy flats, now drained, that lie between the Pakuranga Creek and Tamaki River, two estuarial arms of the Hauraki Gulf...
. The area does not include the more well-to-do, eastern and northern Manukau City suburbs such as Howick
Howick, New Zealand
Howick is an eastern suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, forming part of what is sometimes called East Auckland. Due to the relatively numerous remaining heritage buildings and other historical remnants from its early European settlement past, it has been called "perhaps Auckland's most historically...
nor the large rural area of Manukau City. The name does not include Franklin District
Franklin District
The territorial authority of Franklin District was abolished on 31 October 2010 and was divided between Auckland Council in the Auckland Region to the north and Waikato and Hauraki districts in the Waikato Region to the south and east. It was administered from the town of Pukekohe...
, which lies south of Papakura
Papakura
The Papakura District was the name of a local council territory in New Zealand's Auckland Region that existed from 1989 until 2010. The area made up the southernmost part of the Auckland metropolitan area....
.
Prior to the 1970s, South Auckland encompassed the region from Otahuhu south to Mercer, and from the west coast to the Firth of Thames
Firth of Thames
The Firth of Thames is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of Thames lies on its southeastern coast....
, including the southern towns of Pukekohe
Pukekohe
Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is approximately 50 kilometres south of Auckland City, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe...
, Tuakau
Tuakau
Tuakau is a town in the Franklin district, and is part of the Waikato Region in the North Island of New Zealand.The town serves to support local farming, and is the residence of many employees of New Zealand Steel at Glenbrook....
and Waiuku
Waiuku
Waiuku is a country town in the Franklin District, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour...
.
Auckland Airport is located in South Auckland, as well as several other places of interest, including the amusement park Rainbow's End
Rainbow's End (Theme Park)
Rainbow's End is a 9.3 ha theme park in Auckland, New Zealand that opened in December, 1982. The park, wholly owned subsidiary of New Zealand Experience Ltd, is currently New Zealand's largest theme park...
, the Auckland Botanic Gardens
Auckland Botanic Gardens
Auckland Botanic Gardens, Auckland, New Zealand is a botanical garden that covers 64 hectares in Manurewa, South Auckland. The first purchase of land by the Auckland Regional Authority – predecessor of Auckland Regional Council – dates back to 1968. Developments started in 1973. The garden was...
and one of the oldest shopping malls in the country, now called Westfield Manukau City
Westfield Manukau City
Westfield Manukau City is a major shopping centre located in South Auckland, New Zealand, near the intersection of the Auckland Southern Motorway and Southwest Motorway, south-southeast of the Auckland CBD....
.
Some of the suburbs in South Auckland contain predominantly state housing
State housing
State housing is the system of public housing offered to New Zealand residents on low to moderate incomes. Some 66,000 houses are managed by Housing New Zealand Corporation, most of which are owned by the government.-The Liberal Government:...
and are the poorest suburbs of Auckland. The area also contains the industrial heartland of Auckland (Mangere, Otahuhu, Manukau CBD, and the Port of Onehunga), with workshops, factories and warehouses providing work for many Aucklanders.
People
The area has a multiracial population including PākehāPakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
(European New Zealanders) and Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
s as well as a relatively high proportion of Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
ns and Māori. This gives it a very cosmopolitan feel and a thriving culture, especially at street level, most often seen by visitors at the Saturday markets at Otara, Manurewa and Mangere.
Manukau City, before its amalgamation, used the slogan "Face of the Future" to reflect its youthful demographic, having one of the highest proportion of people under 18. South Auckland is also a major centre of hip hop culture and music in New Zealand.
People who hail from South Auckland include Olympic champion John Walker, mountaineer Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE , was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest – see Timeline of climbing Mount Everest...
, and former Prime Minister David Lange
David Lange
David Russell Lange, ONZ, CH , served as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. He headed New Zealand's fourth Labour Government, one of the most reforming administrations in his country's history, but one which did not always conform to traditional expectations of a...
. Many successful sportspeople are South Aucklanders; including rugby players Jonah Lomu
Jonah Lomu
Jonah Tali Lomu, MNZM is a New Zealand rugby union player. He had sixty-three caps as an All Black after debuting in 1994. He is generally regarded as the first true global superstar of rugby union. He has had a huge impact on the game...
and Eric Rush
Eric Rush
Eric James Rush is a New Zealand rugby union footballer and a Rugby Sevens legend, arguably one of the greatest Sevens players to grace the game...
, rugby league player Ruben Wiki
Ruben Wiki
Ruben Wiki, ONZM is a former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative centre-turned-prop forward, he retired with the record for most number of international appearances of any rugby league player in history...
, heavyweight boxer David Tua
David Tua
David "Tuamanator" Tua is a New Zealand professional heavyweight boxer, fighting out of South Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.He is a former WBO Asia Pacific and WBO Oriental Heavyweight champion....
, cricketer Daryl Tuffey
Daryl Tuffey
Daryl Raymond Tuffey is a New Zealand cricketer who has represented New Zealand at Test and ODI level, and plays domestic first class cricket for Northern Districts Knights. He is playfully known as Daryl "Huffy-Puffy" Tuffey by his Northern Districts team mates due to his heavy breathing when...
, kick boxer Mark Hunt
Mark Hunt
Mark Hunt ; is a New Zealand kickboxer and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is known for his raw strength, iron chin and knockout power. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final...
and hip hop music artists Young Sid, DJ Sir-vere, Savage
Savage (rapper)
- Studio albums :-Singles:-Featured singles:- External links :*****...
and P-Money
P-Money
-Albums:-Singles:-External links:* - News, video clips, downloads* - Information, photos, and video clips...
.