Auckland

As New Zealand's largest city, Auckland offers a collection of contemporary lifestyles, cultural heritage, sporting achievements and colourful multi-cultural distinctiveness set within an unspoiled marine environment.

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Auckland has consistently been voted as one of the world's best lifestyle cities, combining cosmopolitan city living with an outdoor environment full of great escapes that are located no more than half an hour from the city center.

Auckland offers a large number of facilities for residents including open spaces and public parks, good public transport and public libraries, an expansive range of bars, cafes and restaurants, and a lively night life.

In the restaurant regions of Parnell and Ponsonby, the chefs have an endless obsession with culinary creativity. In particular Auckland has perfected the style of cuisine called 'Pacific Rim' - the blending Asian and Pacific flavours. Seafood also features highly on Auckland restaurant menus.

To go with the assortment of food, Auckland produces a number of award-winning wines from its 80-plus vineyards.

One of the best ways to appreciate the city is from on the water and it is no surprise that water sports activities are enjoyed by many Aucklanders. The city is commonly known as the 'City of Sails' due to the number of yachts which sail in its harbours and the adjoining Hauraki Gulf. Windsurfing is also popular in the bays around the harbour, as is kayaking.

To the west of the city the black sand west coast beaches provide high quality surfing conditions on a regular basis. As a coastal city set amidst beautiful harbours, Auckland is a perfect blend of sophisticated city living and natural beauty, making it one of the most desirable destinations in the world.

State Business Overview

Auckland City is the retail and commercial centre of New Zealand, with a number of head offices and businesses servicing commerce, manufacturing and tourism. Auckland also has strong links to Asia-Pacific markets, making it an ideal gateway to this growing region.

The city is a cost competitive business location with an open, deregulated market and competitive office space rental costs. It is a modern, business friendly city, which complements Sydney and Melbourne but provides its own distinctive business and lifestyle opportunities.

Auckland is also the 'gateway' to New Zealand for tourism, with the country's largest airport serving some 45 airlines. Cruise ships regularly visit Auckland (especially during the summer period) with many of the passengers taking the opportunity to take tours of Auckland and the other tourist attractions in the country.

The city and its modern economy are well served by an infrastructure developed for future business needs. Telecommunications and utility services are cost competitive and are of the highest standards. Services are plentiful, with open and growing competition ensuring there are few barriers to the development and growth of existing and new businesses.

Education

Educational institutes are a major feature of Auckland and there are around 450 primary/intermediate and 85 secondary schools in the greater Auckland region. These include both state-funded and independent private schools.

There are also private and local council run day care centres and kindergartens. There are primary schools in most suburbs and high schools in every area.

State primary schools are co-educational while some high schools are single sex. Admission to local state schools (especially the more popular ones) is generally by residential zoning. There are also a number of private schools, most of which are single sex and are affiliated with a Christian denomination.

Schools in Auckland are generally governed by boards which are representative of their community. These boards usually comprise five elected parent representatives, the school principal and a staff representative.

Teachers are well supported in Auckland through several excellent teacher resource centres which host regular professional development workshops.

Auckland City is also very well equipped with a large choice of tertiary education institutions. The University of Auckland is physically located in the central city area and also has a satellite Tamaki campus in the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes. Adding to the mix Massey University has a campus at Albany on Auckland's North Shore, while the Universities of Otago and Waikato have recently established operations in the city's central business district.

Auckland's technical and vocational tertiary institutes - including Auckland and Manukau Institutes of Technology and Unitec offer an extensive range of vocational courses in fields including accountancy, dress designing, engineering, journalism, nursing, photography and so on.

Auckland also has a college of education offering early childhood, primary and secondary teacher training.

Employment

Key industries

The Auckland region is the powerhouse of the New Zealand economy, accounting for over one third of New Zealand's national GDP.

Over 70% of New Zealand's imports and 40% of exports transit through Auckland's two ports and over half of New Zealand's top 200 companies have their headquarters in Auckland.

Property, business, finance, insurance, education and tourism are key industries within the city, especially in Auckland's CBD. Other important industries include Manufacturing (Auckland is home to at least 40% of New Zealand's total manufacturing) and Distribution (around 45% of New Zealand's wholesalers are based in Auckland).

International education is also a significant contributor to Auckland's economy and over recent years Auckland has seen exceptional growth in this sector.

Another growth area is the creative sector where strong employment growth has been seen, particularly in recorded media manufacturing and publishing, performing arts, and film and video production.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has also been identified as an important growth area for the city.

Other key sectors currently experiencing growth include biotechnology (on the back of New Zealand's agricultural strength), material science (such as high temperature semi conductor ceramics, nanoscience and food product design), and health and medicine (including neuroscience, endocrinology, carcinogenesis, neurology and public health).

Housing

Home ownership

The North Shore of Auckland has some of the highest rates of home ownership in New Zealand, with around 66% of people owning their own homes.

At the same time however the remainder of Auckland has some of the lowest home ownership rates in the country.

The Quarter Acre (New Zealand term for term for a suburban plot of land) bungalow remains the most common residence of Aucklanders. This has contributed to significant urban sprawl and consequently an increased reliance on motor vehicles.

To curb Auckland's urban sprawl the Auckland Regional Council is building more townhouses and apartments and prohibiting the subdivision of properties on the city fringes.

Auckland's geographical spread means that house prices do vary considerably depending on the region or suburb in which a home is located.

According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (as at April 2005) the median house price for the North Shore of Auckland was NZD$405,000, while in the Waitakere region the median house price was NZD$315,000.

In Auckland City the median was NZD$426,000, while the lowest median price in Auckland was NZD$227,000 in the Papakura region.

Renting

The Auckland region offers both homebuyers and renters a huge choice of properties, including stylish inner city apartments, little bedsits, spacious old homes with large outdoor living areas or a lifestyle block on the outskirts of town.

Like house prices, rental prices in Auckland also vary greatly between suburbs. According to the New Zealand Ministry of Housing the average rent for a three bedroom property in the North Shore of Auckland is NZ $420 per week, while for a three bedroom property in the city area the average weekly rent is NZD$470.

In West Auckland median rental prices for a three bedroom home range from NZD$300 to NZD$320 per week, while in South Auckland the median weekly rent for a three bedroom home is around NZD$280 per week. (All rental prices shown are as at Jan 2005).

Properties for rent are advertised in the ’To Let’ section of the New Zealand Herald. Landlords and real estate agents place advertisements in the classifieds section, with the largest number of listings being placed in Wednesday and Saturday editions.

Rental properties are also listed on numerous real estate and letting agent’s websites, details of which can be found by searching for rental properties in Auckland on the Internet.

Transport

There are a variety of ways to move around Auckland including bus, train, ferry and taxi. Bus is the most preferred method of public transport, carrying over 50 million passenger trips a year. Regular buses run to popular destinations every 5-15 minutes.

Within the Auckland region train travel is probably the least convenient method, with only a limited number of routes serving 30 stations throughout the greater city. The North Shore does not have any railway services at all. During peak hour delays can occur, however during off peak periods train travel on all lines is usually quick and reliable.

For motorists the Auckland road network can experience severe congestion at rush hour. The geography of Auckland constrains the motorway network to a limited number of routes and studies have shown that Auckland has one of the most comprehensive road networks of any city in the world relative to its size.

Taxis are readily available in the city, however because of the size of Auckland fares may be between NZD$50 - NZD$100 from the airport to a city location.

A feature of Auckland transport is the popularity of commuting by ferry. Residents from the North Shore can avoid the chronic Harbour Bridge traffic congestion by catching a ferry from Devonport, Bayswater or Stanley Bay to the Auckland CBD.

Population

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city and as at June 30 2004 the region's population was estimated to be just over 1.3 million.

The city and suburbs cover an area of 60 square kilometers and is the fastest growing region in the country.

The greater Auckland region is currently home to 32 out of every 100 New Zealanders and Central Auckland has the highest population density in New Zealand, with approximately 2,300 people per square kilometre.

Around 63% of Auckland's residents are of European descent, 11% are Maori, 13% are of Pacific Island descent and there is a growing Asian population of around 12%.

Climate

Auckland enjoys a warm coastal climate without temperature extremes. The weather is generally mild and the climate is temperate, with warm summers (averaging over 24 degrees Celsius) and cooler winters (averaging 16 degrees Celsius).

The summer months are between December and March and the prevailing wind is from the westerly direction. Auckland's climate can be quite subtropical at times, with an average of seven to eight hours of sunny weather each day. T

he city has been said to have four seasons in one day, with weather conditions known to change dramatically and then change just as dramatically back.

High levels of rainfall occur almost year-round (over 1000mm per year), especially in winter. Climatic conditions also vary in different parts of the city due to geography such as hills, trees and ocean wind currents.

Geography

Auckland stretches from the town of Wellsford in the north, to the rolling Bombay Hills in the south.

Auckland is built on a narrow isthmus between two harbours, the Waitemata to the east and the Manukau to the west. The Waitemata is the main deep water shipping access, with extensive wharf facilities and the largest container port in the country.

The city is liberally scattered with volcanoes, with One Tree Hill being one of the most famous. The city's 48 volcanoes are all individually extinct although the volcanic field itself is merely dormant.

Rangitoto Island which guards the entrance to the Waitemata Harbour is the biggest volcano in the region and its size and symmetrical flanks make it one of the city's main geographical features.

To the west of the city lie the rugged and bush clad Waitakere Ranges and Waitakere City which is built on the rolling foothills of the ranges. Beyond the Waitakere Ranges lie Auckland's spectacular black sand west coast beaches which are popular for surfing and weekend retreats from the city.

Cost of living

Compared with Sydney or London, the cost of living in Auckland is considered much cheaper yet the quality of living is also very high.

In a recent quality of life survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consultants, Auckland was rated the eighth best city in the world for quality of life, tied with Sydney, Bern and Copenhagen.

Auckland's house prices are generally more expensive than they are the further south you travel. At the same time however the average wage in Auckland is also generally higher than the rest of New Zealand and as such living costs tend to balance out with the rest of the country.

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