Urban Transformations - The Millennium Series Part Three

Single 40c 'Wellington' gummed stamps.

The city of Wellington was meant to be built at Petone but was moved to Lambton Harbour in 1840 because the original site was too swampy. A huge reclamation programme to obtain flat land followed. Economic expansion and reinforced concrete construction saw the central business district transformed from the 1920's on. Recent changes have included the new Civic Square and the re-development of the waterfront, including the erection of the imposing Museum of New Zealand.

Single 80c 'Auckland' gummed stamp.

Governor Hobson chose the fertile volcanic landscape of the Tāmaki isthmus as the site for his capital, Auckland, in 1840. Some 50 years later, the 'dingy wooden structures' lining Queen Street had been replaced by substantial brick and stone structures with neo-classical or Gothic facades. Large department stores and entertainment venues were added. Residential suburbs sprawled across the isthmus, and Auckland de-centralised. More recently, the trend to apartment living has seen the inner city undergo something of a resurgence.

Single $1.00 'Christchurch' gummed stamp.

Christchurch's site was chosen for its closeness to Lyttelton and the fertile land of the Canterbury Plains. By the turn of the century, solid two and three-storey buildings were very much part of the city's business centre. Meanwhile, housing within the four founding avenues began to expand out from the 1880's. After the Second World War, there was further expansion to both the north-west and the east, while inner city redevelopment focused on apartments.

Single $1.20 'Westport' gummed stamp.

Gold rushes on the West Coast turned a small settlement at the mouth of the Buller River into New Zealand's fifth largest export port by 1867. Later, the development of large-scale mining to the north saw Westport become the country's major coal port. However, the town has continued to suffer at the hands of nature, with fire and earthquakes taking substantial tolls. Today, it is a port of call for tourists and retains a bustling frontier feel.

Single $1.50 'Tauranga' gummed stamp.

The battle of Gate Pā in 1864 resulted in military settlement nearby, close to the Anglican mission station at Te Papa. By 1878, a township had been established on the beachfront. But by 1901, Tauranga's population was less than 1,000. By the 1930's, it had only reached 3,000. However, the decision in 1950 to develop overseas port facilities at nearby Mount Manganui, spurred exponential growth. The population doubled over the next decade, and by 1961 Tauranga was a city.

Single $1.80 'Dunedin' gummed stamp.

Sheltered Otago Harbour was chosen as the best site for the Free Church settlement of 1848. With the influx of goldrush money in the 1860's and 1870's, land was reclaimed, the commercial district expanded, and 'magnificent and costly buildings' constructed with 'marvellous rapidity'. By 1880, Dunedin was 'a city of consequence'. Many of these facades survived largely intact until the 1960's. Much of the 19th century terrace housing near the city centre survives to this day.