The North Shore is part of the large urban area of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, located to the north of the

Waitematā Harbour Waitematā Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is one of two harbours adjoining the city. The harbour forms the northern and easter ...

. To the east, has the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, to the south, has the

and Central Auckland, to the north has the

Hibiscus Coast The Hibiscus Coast is a populated area on a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It has a population of making it the 11th most populous urban area in New Zealand, and the second most populous in the Auckland Re ...

. From 1989 until 2010, North Shore City was an independent city within the Auckland Region, until it was incorporated into the Auckland Council.

North Shore City

The North Shore was formerly North Shore City, a distinct territorial authority district, which was governed by the North Shore City Council from 1989 until 2010, when it was incorporated into Auckland Council. The city had an estimated population of 229,000 at 30 June 2010, making it the fourth most populous city in New Zealand prior to the November 2010 reorganisation. The former city was also the country's fourth largest city in land, with an area of 129.81 square kilometres and a coastline of 141 kilometres. It was also the most densely populated city in the country because unlike many other New Zealand cities, almost all of the city's area was urban or suburban, with almost no rural land.

Geography

The North Shore comprises a large suburban area to the north of downtown Auckland; linked to the rest of the greater Auckland metropolitan area by two harbour bridges – the

Auckland Harbour Bridge The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and th ...

crosses the inner Waitematā Harbour to the

Auckland isthmus The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus i ...

and

Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's l ...

, while the Upper Harbour Bridge on State Highway 18, provides a connection to West Auckland, New Zealand, West Auckland, across the northern stretches of the harbour. The North Shore has been administered by various councils over the years, in the most recent past the North Shore City Council. On 1 November 2010, North Shore City Council and the six other local councils and Auckland Regional Council merged to create Auckland Council. Today, the entire area has been divided among four local boards of the amalgamated Auckland Council: Devonport-Takapuna, Kaipatiki, Upper Harbour (along with part of the former

Waitakere City Waitākere City was a territorial authority in West Auckland, New Zealand; it was governed by the Waitākere City Council from 1989 to 2010. It was New Zealand's fifth-largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%. In 2010 the council was ...

) and Hibiscus and Bays (along with part of the former Rodney District).

Suburbs

The administrative area of North Shore City Council was bounded by

Rodney District Rodney District was a local government area in the northernmost part of New Zealand's Auckland Region from 1989 to 2010. It included Kawau Island. It was created from the amalgamation of Helensville Borough and Rodney County in 1989. The seat ...

to the north,

to the south and the

Rangitoto Channel The Rangitoto Channel is one of several passes between the islands of the inner Hauraki Gulf, close to the mouth of the Waitematā Harbour to the east of Auckland in New Zealand. The channel is an important stretch of water as it is the only deep ...

of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

. North Shore City was divided into the following wards, which each ward was further divided into two community boards.

Northern Ward

* Albany Community Board: Albany², Albany Heights, Fairview Heights,

Greenhithe Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located east of Dartford and west of Gravesend. Area In the past, Greenhithe's waterfront on the estuary of the ri ...

²,

Lucas Heights Lucas Heights is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is near to the Royal National Park. Geography It is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government ...

, Oteha, Paremoremo, Pinehill, Rosedale,

Schnapper Rock Schnapper Rock is a western suburb on the North Shore of Auckland. The suburb is currently under local governance of Auckland Council. North Shore Memorial Park was developed in 1973. It is a cemetery run by Auckland Council sited on . Demogr ...

, Unsworth Heights,

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual renta ...

; North Harbour * East Coast Bays Community Board: Browns Bay³, Long Bay³,

Mairangi Bay Mairangi Bay is a coastal suburb of North Shore, Auckland, located in the northern North Island of New Zealand, on the south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. Mairangi Bay came under the local governance ...

³,

Murrays Bay Murrays Bay is a small suburb in the East Coast Bays region, located in the North Shore of Auckland. The suburb is roughly the same size as Rothesay Bay, the suburb to the immediate north. It is primarily a residential area but does have a co ...

³,

Northcross Northcross is a northern suburb of the North Shore in the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It is located in the East Coast Bays, a string of small suburbs that make up the northern North Shore. It is located north of the Wai ...

, Okura, Rothesay Bay³,

Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...

³, Waiake³

Harbour Ward

* Birkenhead-Northcote Community Board: Beach Haven², Birkdale²,

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

¹, Chatswood, Northcote¹, Northcote Point;

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

* Glenfield Community Board: Bayview, Glenfield¹, Hillcrest¹,

Wairau Valley Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley opens onto the Wairau Plain, where Renwick and Blen ...

Central Ward

* Devonport Community Board: Bayswater¹, Belmont¹, Devonport¹, Narrow Neck, Stanley Bay; Westlake * Takapuna Community Board:

Campbells Bay Campbells Bay is a suburb of the North Shore located in Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is currently under the local governance of the Auckland Council and is in the Albany ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of the city of ...

³, Castor Bay², Forrest Hill¹, Hauraki, Milford¹, Sunnynook²,

Takapuna Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is situated at the beginning of a south-east-facing peninsula forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. While very small in terms of population, it ...

¹ Notes: ¹ – Inner suburbs
² – Outer suburbs
³ – Those suburbs, along with several other beaches on the Hauraki Gulf coast, are collectively known as the East Coast Bays.

History

To Tāmaki Māori, the North Shore was known by the name Te Whenua Roa o Kahu ("The Greater Lands of Kahu"), referring to

Te Arawa Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka''). This changed significantly with the construction of the

in 1959, which opened up the Shore for Auckland expansion – vehicle volumes on the bridge became three times the forecast volume within the first decade – and began turning parts of it into a

dormitory town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for people working in the Auckland CBD or further south. Eventually the growth became significant enough for the North Shore to be considered a city in its own right, though densities remained (and remain as of the 2000s) still below what is typical south of the Harbour. On 1 November 2010 the North Shore boundaries were amalgamated with the rest of the entire Auckland Region, and the North Shore City Council was abolished and replaced by a single unitary city authority. All council services and facilities are now under authority of the Auckland Council.

Transport

Commuting within the North Shore itself can be done relatively easily, but those who commute to the Auckland CBD and need to cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge face severe traffic congestion. The alternative route through western suburbs is also prone to nose-to-tail traffic at peak times. As with the greater Auckland area, there has been much discussion regarding the problem at both national and local government levels, but very little concrete action, mostly related to the high cost and difficulty of providing additional crossings over the

. Several options for new bridges and tunnels have been studied in depth, but at the moment, the official position is to mitigate congestion effects instead of providing new infrastructure. In May 2021, the government announced a $685 million dollar cycling/walking bridge that would cross the

, after a bike protest shut down two lanes of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. However, just four months later in October, the government decided to scrap the project. The Northern Busway running alongside the Northern Motorway, together with

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

or drop-off areas at most of its stations, serves as the spine of a bus-based rapid transit system for North Shore and Hibiscus Coast citizens. The busway was fully operational between Constellation and Akoranga in February 2008. A number of North Shore suburbs have a regular ferry service operated by Fullers360 to the Auckland CBD, including Devonport, Stanley Bay, Bayswater, Birkenhead. Others are planned for Takapuna and Browns Bay. A plan in the mid-2000s to turn North Shore streets into a venue for a three-day V8 supercar race generated controversy; traffic experts were hired by the North Shore City Council to assess whether such a race was possible "without causing mayhem on the roads."

Local government

The city was run by a 15-member council (North Shore City Council) and mayor, democratically elected every three years using the

First Past The Post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

voting system. The final mayor prior to 2010 amalgamation was Andrew Williams. The mayor was a strong critic of the 'Super City' proposals which would see North Shore City amalgamated into a larger Auckland authority, Auckland Council. Mayor Williams voiced strong opposition to

Transit New Zealand Transit New Zealand (Māori: Ararau Aotearoa), which existed from 1989 to 2008, was the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand state highway network (10,894 km, about 12% of New Zealand's roads). It ...

's delays regarding bus lanes. He was a proponent of the $300 million joint busway venture. While the Auckland Regional Council had power to impose property tax rates on suburban areas such as North Shore City, local residents voiced strong opposition. There was a pattern of conflict between local authorities and Auckland city officials regarding many matters, such as transportation, land purchases and decay of wharf facilities. The issue of whether Auckland should be a single city, or a collection of autonomous cities, was a subject of debate in the lead up to amalgamation. For the purposes of

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, the city contained three whole electorates, being Northcote, North Shore and East Coast Bays. The electorate of

Helensville Helensville is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Waimauku to the south, and Kauka ...

also takes in portions of the northwest of the city. Politically the city tends to lean to the

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

: all electorates except Northcote are considered safe National Party seats. Northcote meanwhile is considered a bellwether seat, swinging left and right with the nation as a whole.

Economy

There are over 22,000 businesses located on the North Shore, contributing to over 6% of New Zealand's GDP. The city topped the nation's growth rates for numbers of businesses between 1998 and 2002, growing 29.3%. The suburb Albany has become the commercial center of the North Shore. A number of retailers like Westfield are building or have built "super stores" in the area, anticipating ongoing commercial growth and expansion. The area has also experienced the construction of intense cheaper housing, and thousands of acres of farmland has been turned into mini-suburbs comprising hundreds of houses all of a similar design. As such, the Albany area has attracted hundreds of millions of investment dollars. The

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

has its main base in Devonport and is a significant employer and industry. Residential development on the North Shore continues to rapidly sprawl northwards. The Rodney township of Orewa and the

Whangaparaoa Peninsula The Whangaparaoa Peninsula is a suburban area about 25 km north of Auckland, New Zealand. It had 30,672 residents in 2013, many of them in the eponymous town of Whangaparaoa on its southern side. It is part of the Hibiscus Coast. ...

, 25 kilometres north of Takapuna, were once holiday resorts. They are now linked by the Northern Motorway and may eventually be contiguous with the North Shore's northward urban expansion. Some parts of the North Shore boast some of the most expensive real estate in New Zealand. The stretch of coast that runs north from Takapuna Beach to Milford, often referred to as the "Golden Mile", has many properties there that have sold for several million dollars (NZ$) particularly because of the beaches,

Lake Pupuke Lake Pupuke (traditionally known in Māori as Pupukemoana) is a heart-shaped freshwater lake occupying a volcanic crater (or maar) between the suburbs of Takapuna and Milford on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The heart shape is a re ...

, popular schools and shopping centres such as Shore City. In 2005, one beachfront property sold for $12.8 million. Rents and property prices on the North Shore are high in relative terms, with average weekly rents (in 2002) of $243 versus $237 for Wellington and $236 for Auckland.

Demographics

In the

2006 New Zealand census The New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings ( mi, Te Tatauranga o ngā Tāngata Huri Noa i Aotearoa me ō rātou Whare Noho) is a national population and housing census conducted by government department Statistics New Zealand every five y ...

, the median income for North Shore residents over 15 years was $29,100, compared with a national average of $24,400. The racial makeup of the city was 67.5% European, 18.5% Asian, 6.3% Māori, 3.4%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, and 1.8% from the Middle East, Africa or Latin America. Just under 10% gave their ethnicity as "New Zealander", with most of this group having identified itself as European in former Census surveys. A notable number of South African expatriates have made North Shore their home. Some estimates have them as 10% (or more) of the total population, with most residing in the East Coast Bays.

Television

The North Shore is the onscreen home of New Zealand's most successful soap opera:

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

(It was previously primarily filmed there but still has scenes on the North Shore).

Go Girls ''Go Girls'' is a New Zealand comedy-drama television series that centers on four adult friends, three female and one male, living on Auckland's North Shore. In the fifth season it was the same premise, but this time centered on five adult fr ...

is another popular show set on the North Shore.

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

TV channel has its studios and based in Albany.

Sports

The North Shore is home to the North Harbour Rugby Union, who field a team in the

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

. They are based at

North Harbour Stadium North Harbour Stadium is a stadium situated in Albany, in North Shore City, New Zealand. It was opened in 1997, after nearly a decade of discussion, planning and construction. Rugby union, association football, rugby league, and baseball are ...

in Albany. North Shore Rugby Football Club, who play in Devonport, are the oldest

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club in the Auckland Region and one of the oldest in New Zealand. The North Shore is also home to

North Shore United North Shore United Association Football Club is an amateur football club based in the North Shore, Auckland. They compete in the Northern League, where they last won the competition in 2019. Their home ground is Allen Hill Stadium, which is l ...

, founded in 1886, the oldest surviving

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club in New Zealand.

Notable people

* Judy Bailey – retired television newsreader * Dean Barker – yachtsman * Robert Berridge – professional boxer * Stephen Berry – politician and political commentator * Sir Peter Blake – yachtsman * Nick Evans – rugby player * Ian Ferguson – canoeist, Olympic gold medalist * John Hood – former vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and University of Auckland *

Rachel Hunter Rachel Hunter (born 8 September 1969) is a New Zealand model, actress and the host of Imagination Television's ''Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty''. She has appeared on several magazine covers, including ''Vogue'', ''Elle'', ''Rolling Stone'', ' ...

– model and actress * Ian Jones – rugby union player * Lorde – singer/songwriter * Sean Marks – basketball player * Luke McAlister – rugby union player * Peter Montgomery – sports broadcaster * Danny Morrison – cricketer *

Kirk Penney Kirk Samuel Penney (born 23 November 1980) is a New Zealand professional basketball player. He played four years of college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers between 1999 and 2003, where he was twice named first-team all-conference and an al ...

– basketball player *

Winston Reid Winston Wiremu Reid (born 3 July 1988) is a New Zealand professional footballer who last played as a defender for club West Ham United. He captained the New Zealand national team. He has also played for Midtjylland with loan periods at Sport ...

– footballer *

Frank Sargeson Frank Sargeson () (born Norris Frank Davey; 23 March 1903 – 1 March 1982) was a New Zealand short story writer and novelist. Born in Hamilton, Sargeson had a middle-class and puritanical upbringing, and initially worked as a lawyer. After ...

– writer * Wayne "Buck" Shelford – rugby player *

Pamela Stephenson Pamela Helen Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, and performer who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and co ...

, Lady Connolly – psychologist, writer, actress, comedian, wife of Billy Connolly *

Bert Sutcliffe Bert Sutcliffe (17 November 1923 – 20 April 2001) was a New Zealand Test cricketer. Sutcliffe was a successful left-hand batsman. His batting achievements on tour in England in 1949, which included four fifties and a century in the Tests, e ...

– cricketer * Rosita Vai –

New Zealand Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the Idol series originated as the hit British TV series '' Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which garnered ...

winner * Richard Fairgray – author and illustrator

Sister cities

North Shore City was a

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

of: *

Taichung City Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Tai ...

, Taiwan, 17 December 1996 * Qingdao, People's Republic of China, 9 August 2008

References

External links

{{Auckland Geography of Auckland Populated places established in the 19th century