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Story: Suburbs

Slum housing, Auckland, 1905

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Slum housing, Auckland, 1905

Freemans Bay, a hillside suburb between Ponsonby and the harbour, was where Auckland’s poor were concentrated at the start of the 20th century. This jumble of small, cheaply built and insanitary slum houses prompted a press campaign to move its residents into low-cost suburban housing.

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Reference: 1-W1245

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How to cite this page

Mark Derby, Suburbs – The suburban ideal, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/25048/slum-housing-auckland-1905 (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by Mark Derby, published 4 February 2010.