Tramways and suburban growth: a case study of Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

The introduction of tramway systems from the late nineteenth century through the first decade of the twentieth century had a profound impact on the spatial development of our cities. Suburbs developed rapidly as trams allowed workers to live beyond the walking city. As such the tram routes largely determined the spatial organisation of the city up until the widespread adoption of the motorcar. This work examines the relationships between the public awareness of tram routing decisions and the subsequent subdivision activity, land value appreciation and the construction of dwellings in the Kilbirnie/Lyall Bay suburbs of Wellington between 1880 and 1921. In addition to tracing the temporal sequence of events the research also investigates the spatial impact of the routing of tramways by tracking property value and building activity changes at successive distances from this new mode. A clear inverse relationship was identified between the location of tram routes for example and land values. A GIS system is used to plot the sequential development of the early suburb. Although the evidence is consistent with broad processes identified in the literature, deviations from the pattern of development expected suggest citywide development models cannot be used to draw simple inferences about the development of individual suburbs. Subdivision and building activity were identified as occurring both in anticipation of the introduction of the tramline, as well as in response to the introduction and extension of the line. Whilst the spatial pattern of subdivision and building was determined largely by accessibility to principal transport routes, local factors such as topography and land ownership also influenced where development took place. As such this study not only suggests limits to the generalizations one can make from one urban scale to another but also adds to the history both of trams in New Zealand and of Wellington's eastern suburbs.