Māori history , one of the most populated locations on the isthmus during the
Waiohua confederation of the 17th and 18th centuries was widely grown on the isthmus during the pre-European period, and stored in
rua kūmara (storehouses) (pictured: storehouse pit remnants on
Ōhinerau) The Auckland isthmus was an early location visited by many of the
Māori migration canoes, including the
Matahourua,
Aotea,
Mātaatua,
Tainui,
Tākitimu,
Tokomaru,
Te Wakatūwhenua and
Moekākara waka. The area was called '''', meaning "Tāmaki desired by many", in reference to the desirability of its natural resources and geography.
Tāmaki Māori found the isthmus to be an important strategic location, due to the fertile soils and rich resources from the two harbours that bound the isthmus. Portages, where waka could be moved across the isthmus at its most narrow points, were important features of the isthmus for Tāmaki Māori. The most important of these was
Te Tō Waka, at the modern location of
Portage Road, Ōtāhuhu south of
Ōtāhuhu / Mount Richmond, Other major portages were
Karetu, which was to the south of
Mutukaroa / Hamlins Hill Regional Park, In addition to portages, trails across the isthmus were created, one of the most notable being
Karangahape Road, connecting the central isthmus to
Cornwallis / Karangahape in the southern
Waitākere Ranges. Between the 13th and 18th centuries, much of the isthmus was deforested, After harvesting, crops would be stored in
rua kūmara, a storehouse fitted over a dry pit that is often found on the volcanic cones of the isthmus. In the 17th century, chief
Hua Kaiwaka consolidated tribes on the isthmus as a confederation called
Waiohua, a union which lasted for three generations until the early 18th century. and Waiohua settlements were found at Maungarei, Onehunga, Remuera,
Ōrākei,
Kohimarama,
Rarotonga / Mount Smart,
Te Tatua-a-Riukiuta, Ōwairaka / Mount Albert, the
Waihorotiu Valley (modern
Auckland CBD), in addition to
Māngere to the south of the isthmus. Almost all hills, headlands and mountains on the isthmus have some history of Māori occupancy. After Waiohua were defeated in a series of battles, some members of Te Taoū settled at Tāmaki Makaurau and intermarried with Waiohua, later becoming known as
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. In late 1821 during the
Musket Wars, a Ngāpuhi taua (war party) led by
Hongi Hika attacked Mauināina pā and Mokoia village on the banks of the Tāmaki River (modern-day
Panmure), causing a great number of deaths. This incident marked the beginning of a period of time when the isthmus was most deserted, when Tāmaki Māori sheltered in regions away from the threat of
Te Tai Tokerau Māori raiders that continued on until the early 1830s. The shoreline of the Waitematā Harbour was populated with
pōhutukawa trees, however during the 1840s onwards most mature specimens were cut down to use for ship building.
European history Early colonial period In 1840 after the signing of the
Treaty of Waitangi, paramount chief
Apihai Te Kawau made a
tuku (strategic gift) of land at
Waihorotiu on the Waitematā Harbour to
William Hobson, the first Governor of New Zealand, as a location for the capital of the colony to develop. This location became the modern city of Auckland, beginning with a port develop around
Commercial Bay. In mid-1840, Apihai Te Kawau relocated the majority of the Ngāti Whātua from the Manukau Harbour to
Remuera-
Ōrākei on the Waitematā Harbour, closer to the new settlement of Auckland. Dual ports were created on either side of the isthmus for the European settlement: the Port of Auckland on the Waitematā Harbour, and the Port of Onehunga on the Manukau Harbour, separated by nine kilometres. In 1841, the Crown purchased the Kohimarama block from Ngāti Pāoa (6,000 acres extending from
Mission Bay south to Panmure). Ngāti Pāoa understood that this deal allowed for Ngāti Pāoa to settle and establish a trading post at
Parnell near the new city of Auckland, however no reserves were set aside. Onehunga on the Manukau Harbour became a major port town, facilitating trade with Manukau-based
Tāmaki Māori and
Waikato tribes, who would sell and barter resources such as peaches, melons, fish and potatoes. By 1855, most Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei lands had either been given as
tuku to the Crown, or lost through property speculators, with only the 700-acre
Ōrākei block remaining. During the 1860s, affluent members of society in Auckland began to move into the countryside, living at locations such as modern Newmarket and
Epsom. During the 1800s, many of the volcanic cones on the isthmus such as
Maungawhau / Mount Eden,
Te Kōpuke / Mount Saint John and
Maungarei / Mount Wellington began to be quarried, so that the scoria could be used for roading materials, however by the end of the century, lava basalt deposits or
greywacke from the
Hunua Ranges was preferred. By the 1860s, the
Albert Park Volcano had been entirely quarried, The isthmus was connected to surrounding areas of Auckland through infrastructure projects. The
Panmure Bridge connecting to eastern Auckland farmland and the fencibles settlement of
Howick was opened in 1866, followed by the
Māngere Bridge linking Auckland south in 1875, and the first
Grafton Bridge in 1884, linking the central city to
Grafton across the
Grafton Gully. Auckland's first railway opened in 1873, the
Onehunga Line on the
Onehunga Branch between
Point Britomart and
Onehunga via
Penrose, followed soon after by the
Southern Line, connecting the isthmus south to
Pukekohe by 1875, and as far south on the
North Island Main Trunk as
Te Awamutu in the
Waikato by 1880. The
Western Line, a section of the
North Auckland Line, was opened on 29 March 1880 connecting Newmarket to
Glen Eden, and extended as far north as
Helensville by the following year. By the 1920s and early 1930s, tram lines had been constructed, connecting a number of suburbs, including
Mount Roskill,
Remuera,
Meadowbank,
Point Chevalier (a suburb that was newly developed in the 1920s), attracting middle income families, while city-adjacent suburbs such as
Ponsonby,
Freemans Bay and
Grey Lynn developed into slums due to the deteriorating 19th century housing stock. The
growth of the automobile in the 1920s also led to major concreting and sealing projects on the streets of the isthmus. In the 1930s, the eastern suburbs of the Auckland isthmus were connected to the central city after the construction the Westfield Deviation (now known as the
Eastern Line) and
Tāmaki Drive in 1932, both constructed on reclaimed strips of
Hobson Bay and the
Ōrākei Basin. Overcrowding and poor quality housing began to be combatted in the 1930s by the use of town planning and
state housing projects. By 1945, the areas of
Waterview and
Mount Roskill had also been developed as state housing projects. The kāinga and marae at Ōkahu Bay were seized and burned in 1952, under the pretense of beautification for the
royal visit of Queen
Elizabeth II in 1953, and the residents were relocated to nearby state housing.
1950s–1983: motorways, immigration and suburban sprawl s being manufactured at
Ōtāhuhu in 1966. By 1967, New Zealand had one of highest
per capita car ownership rates in the world. in 1975. By the mid-1950s,
motorways became a new type of
civil engineering project that began to dominate the isthmus. The first section that opened was the
Northwestern Motorway in 1952, connecting Westerview to the
Te Atatū Peninsula in
West Auckland, to create a dedicated corridor to reach the civilian airport at
Whenuapai. By the mid-1950s, a new location at the
Māngere Aerodrome became the favoured location for an international airport, and the
Auckland Airport was opened at
Māngere in 1966, while the Whenuapai airport remained as the
RNZAF Base Auckland. The construction of the Central Motorway Junction caused businesses to relocate away from
Karangahape Road, adjacent to the junction, causing the area to become established as a
red-light district. Funding for this project was scrapped in the 1970s by the
Third National Government. By 1964, western developments at
New Windsor and
Mount Roskill, south-eastern developments at
Oranga and
Mount Wellington, and remaining patches such as
Tāmaki led to the Auckland isthmus becoming a contiguous urban sprawl. As people moved towards the suburbs, the CBD and adjacent central suburbs declined in popularity. Due to minimal planning requirements, central Auckland apartments developed a reputation for poor design. Since the 1990s, measures to combat urban sprawl have been undertaken by the Auckland councils, especially developing medium and high density housing around urban centres and public transport nodes. and was opened in 2003. In 2001,
John Banks was elected as the
Mayor of Auckland City on a platform of creating the Eastern Motorway, connecting the CBD to
East Auckland and the eastern isthmus suburbs, to alleviate the congestion problems faced by Auckland. From the late 2000s onwards, a number of public transport projects have been created to alleviate congestion, such as the
Northern Busway (2008),
electrification of Auckland railways (2014–2015), a more frequent public transport network (2016–2019), and the
Eastern Busway (AMETI) (2021–2026). The
City Rail Link, an underground rail loop linking Britomart to the Western line, has a planned opening date of 2024, while plans for two
light rail corridors, one line connecting the CBD to
Mount Roskill,
Māngere and the
Auckland Airport, with the second connecting the CBD to northwestern Auckland, are in the planning stages. A number of legislative changes such as the 2016
Auckland Unitary Plan and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development have allowed higher density building in the isthmus and across the Auckland region. The more liberal
Immigration Act 1987 led to increased immigration from Asia in the 1990s, and Auckland became a prominent destination for
international students. The Auckland isthmus, especially the CBD, became attractive to international students due to tertiary institutions such as the
University of Auckland, the
Auckland University of Technology and local secondary schools.
Language schools and
private training establishments specialising in subjects such as tourism and hospitality became common in central Auckland. By the mid-2000s, the population of the Auckland CBD was significantly more transient than most other areas of New Zealand, due to the large number of students, international tourists and domestic tourists. ==Demographics==