The Wellington region is located at the southernmost point of the North Island. Predominantly an urban area, the principal settlements being Wellington City and Lower Hutt City, it is contained within the boundaries of Makara County and Hutt County which constitute the basic units for the collection of statistics. In 1961 the total population of the area was 260,313 (representing 10·77 per cent of the total New Zealand population), 2·37 per cent of whom were Maoris. (Recently Makara County was incorporated in Hutt County.)
In the vicinity of the Wellington region the main axial range of the North Island descends from the higher levels of the Tararuas, at 3,000 to 5,000 ft, to appear as a block of greywacke whose summit lies at an altitude between 1,000 and 1,500 ft. The whole block is intensely and closely faulted, and the resulting relief is best envisaged by the layman as a series of smaller blocks, with relatively flat tops and steep sides, standing at different levels owing to the differential effect of the close faulting. Mt. Kaukau at 1,495 ft is a classic illustration of the flat summit surface, and so is Mana Island at 398 ft. Between the blocks run rivers and streams which are associated either with relatively broad open valleys, as in the Tawa-Porirua area, or with very deep valleys and gorges, as with the Kaiwharawhara Stream. Most of the valleys follow a general north-south alignment. Impressed upon this general north-south alignment and upon the intricate pattern of relief is an equally distinct north-east-south-west trend, created by the downwarping of the eastern part of the block and resulting in the formation of a fault-angle depression occupied by the excellent harbour of Port Nicholson in the south and by a narrow valley filled with the deposits of the Hutt River in the north. A conspicuous feature of the downwarping is the major fault line which appears as an escarpment to form the northern (locally termed western) boundary of the Hutt Valley.
It was not until the publication some years ago of an aerial photograph taken at 40,000 ft that many of the region's inhabitants became aware of the essential simplicity of the area's topography and pattern of settlement. The north-south trend was revealed most clearly by the line of settlements extending along a valley from Johnsonville in the south to Tawa, Linden, Porirua, and continuing on through Paremata, Plimmerton, and Pukerua Bay. Equally clear was the fault line slicing the block along a north-east-south-west trend with the manner in which the settlements of the Hutt Valley followed this line extending from Upper Hutt in the north-east to Trentham, Here-taunga, Taita, Lower Hutt, Petone and the foreshore of the harbour. A little to the south of Johnsonville the two trend lines intersect at Ngauranga, where the main north highway, Number 1, joins the Hutt Road, which links the capital with the cities and boroughs of the Hutt Valley.
The region possesses only two outlets through which all road and rail transport must flow – to the Manawatu via the Ngauranga Gorge and motorway, and through the rail tunnel (2·8 miles) between Ngauranga and Tawa – to the Wairarapa via the Rimutaka Hill road and the Rimutaka rail tunnel (5 ½ miles) between Mangaroa and Cross Creek. The constricted access imposes a number of transport problems, especially as Wellington, in addition to its other functions, acts as the port for inter-island traffic. In the event of a severe earthquake (in 1855 a 5 ft rise was recorded), the total disruption of major transport lines appears to be an inevitability.
The abrupt juxtaposition of hills, sea, and town produces a montage of extraordinary variety, and an environment that is never wholly urban, rural, or suburban. The strident mixture of seedy Victorian wooden residences, heavy commercial architecture, multi-storey glass and steel structures, industrial plants, warehouses, and wharves is broken and relieved by the expanse and colours of the harbour, or the backdrop of brooding deep-green hills. Fresh suburbs look out over hill country that is at once sweeping, massive, and gently warped, but in detail is sliced into deep narrow defiles above which the sky appears as a distant strip. The town dweller is never without a view of the hills or the sea, which alter their hues as the weather ceaselessly changes. Days of dazzling brilliance when the salt-laden air itself seems to sparkle in the sunlight are succeeded by oppressively grey sheets of nimbus, or softer days when the humid clouds seem to hang like smoke on the hillsides. From the hillsides the town itself is subjected to endless views and panoramas that from one spot include the whole sweep from the harbour entrance to the Tararuas (snow capped in winter), and from another offer a vignette reminiscent of the Mediterranean.
The original colonists first settled at Petone (Britannia) near the mouth of the Hutt River in 1840 but, owing to floods, soon moved to the more protected site of Lambton Harbour. Consequently Wellington became the principal city of the region and eventually, in 1865, the capital of the colony. Its political importance and favoured anchorage ensured the growth of the city and attracted industry and commercial and financial establishments, whereas settlement in the Tawa-Porirua area and in the Hutt Valley remained on a small scale and was largely agricultural in character.
In more recent decades, in a period when the population of the Dominion has shown a marked tendency to urbanise and the industrial sector of the economy has increased in importance, the shortage of flat land in Wellington for residential and industrial purposes has led to a rapid expansion of settlement in the Hutt Valley, and in the 1950s in the Tawa-Porirua region. One result of this has been the creation of a multitude of local governing bodies whose varied names and statuses are liable to obscure the fact that the settlements constitute one socio-economic whole. Thus, in 1961, the 260,313 inhabitants of the region were divided amongst eight separate local bodies, the most important being Wellington City (123,969), Lower Hutt City (53,044), and the boroughs of Petone (9,888), Upper Hutt (16,861), Tawa (7,204), and Eastbourne (2,654). Within the boundaries of Hutt and Makara county there are in addition 10 townships with populations ranging between 1,000 and 9,000 persons. These townships are spread over a considerable area, the road distance between Wellington and Pukerua Bay being 22 miles, Wellington and Wainuiomata 16 miles, and Wellington and Upper Hutt 20 miles.
The bulk of the region's working population finds its employment in Wellington City or in the industries of Lower Hutt and Petone, so that each morning of the week a large number of people arrive to work in Wellington (one recent estimate gives the figure of 19,500), whilst a lesser number (approximately 4,000) leave Wellington to work at Petone or Lower Hutt. This movement is facilitated by the electrified railway lines which link Wellington with Johnsonville, Upper Hutt, and Paekakariki, and also by the motorway between Johnsonville and Porirua.
The Wellington region is, after Auckland, the largest centre for employment in New Zealand and, after Auckland and Christchurch, the third most important centre for manufacturing. In the period 1953–61 the total labour force grew by 18·7 per cent, equal to the national rate of growth, but within the region and emphasising the geographical contrasts some important divergences appeared between the Lower Hutt and Wellington Employment Districts. Thus the labour force in manufacturing in the Lower Hutt Employment District grew by 39·62 per cent (1953–61) whereas in the Wellington Employment District it registered a decline of –2·9 per cent. Obviously the advantages of flat land possessed by the Hutt were a factor, which is also at work in the Tawa-Porirua area where industrial development has recently accelerated. Furthermore, total employment grew at a faster rate in the Hutt district than in the Wellington district. Nevertheless, in absolute terms, Wellington, with a working population of 89,700 (Lower Hutt 28,900) and a labour force of 31,500 (Lower Hutt 14,800) engaged in manufacturing, remains the principal centre of the region for employment.
In 1926 the population of Wellington City numbered 98,893 compared with Lower Hutt's total of 9,209. By 1945 Lower Hutt's population had reached a figure of 31,254, and between 1951 and 1961 it increased from 44,474 to 53,044, a growth of 19·19 per cent, compared with Wellington City's growth of only 3·22 per cent. Wellington's growth is to be regarded as the effect of an extension of the city boundary rather than a real increase in numbers. During the past decade the growth of population has been greatest in the peripheral areas of the region. In Petone, which represents one of the longest settled parts of the region, there has been a slight decline of population (–8·87 per cent) during the last decade, whereas the population of Upper Hutt borough has increased from 5,499 in 1945 to 16,894 in 1961. Tawa's growth has been even more spectacular; with a population of 598 in 1945, it now has a population of 7,204. Tawa apart, the most rapid rates of growth have been sustained in the townships of Hutt county where the population has grown by 68 per cent and in the townships of Makara county where population has grown by 193 per cent during the period 1951–61. Most of the growth in Makara county has been concentrated in the Titahi Bay – Porirua district where a new urban and community centre has emerged as a city. Furthermore, the old beach settlements of Plimmerton, Paremata, and Pukerua Bay are now predominantly dormitory suburbs of Wellington, and it is at Raumati and Paraparaumu that the large expansion of weekend baches has occurred.
Despite the recency of so much urban development, very little account has been taken of town planning concepts, and the advantages and disadvantages of uncontrolled individual development are evident throughout the region. At Upper Hutt and at Tawa the main road divides the shopping centre which is the resort largely of young married people and their children. The State housing schemes in the Hutt and in the Porirua area, whilst revealing some measure of planning, have never been carried beyond the concept of the individual home. Insufficient attention has been paid to the relationship of home, school, community centre, and work place. None of these townships is without its community facilities – the number of church halls, football clubs, gymnasiums, and sports fields that have been established reveal a considerable wealth of local initiative. Only in Lower Hutt City, however, has any attempt been made to create a civic centre where these and other activities may be grouped.
By 1981 it is estimated that the regional population will have reached a total of 384,000 persons; by the end of the century it may have reached 500,000. The problems with which the region will be faced during the remainder of the century will arise from the dispersed nature of the settlement in contrast to the concentration of the employment opportunities, and the difficulties imposed by topography upon the circulation of traffic within the region. The solution of these difficulties will not be aided by the multiplicity of local bodies.
The daily influx of workers into Wellington City and Lower Hutt – Petone cannot be expected to decrease, and therefore problems of access by road, especially to Wellington, and the circulation of traffic within Wellington City have initiated schemes for the development and improvement of motorways. Some of the inner city congestion can be relieved by the establishment of new industrial locations, already under development in Porirua City and in Tawa borough. The problems associated with the journey to work have underlined both the pressing need for regional planning and the archaic structure of local government, so that schemes have been drawn up for the amalgamation of Wellington City and Tawa borough and the formation of one local body for Titahi Bay – Porirua area (inaugurated October 1962). The loss of population from the central districts of Wellington City has directed attention to the development of high-density housing, which is becoming more attractive as the commuters become aware of the burdensome costs, social as well as financial, imposed by the long journey to work. A larger population in the central areas of the city would provide the basis for an active cultural life. As a centre for cultural activities, Wellington has much to offer.
by Samuel Harvey Franklin, B.COM.GEOG., M.A.(BIRMINGHAM), Senior Lecturer, Geography Department, Victoria University of Wellington.