The Residential areas of Lower Hutt about the year 1956

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and explain the pattern of the residential areas of Lower Hutt about the year 1956. The many factors which have affected the rate and direction of growth have been examined to shed light on the features of the present city. In this connection the relationship between the development of Lower Hutt and that of the whole Wellington region, is briefly described. The residential areas of Lower Hutt are analysed first by examining the dwellings, e.g. their age and value, then the social character of the inhabitants, e.g. age, race, occupation. In the 'New Zealand Population Census 1956', the Census and Statistics Department divided Lower Hutt into eleven 'census subdivisions' for the purpose of tabling information. These subdivisions might have formed the basis for an overall social evaluation of the city's residential areas, but maps drawn up independently of census figures show that the census subdivisions bear almost no similarity to groupings of houses on the basis of age of houses, government valuation of properties, or persons per acre of residential land. cf. Fig. 14 and Figs. 5, 11, 16. Without supplementary material, figures for the census subdivisions would give a misleading impression of the character of the city's districts. As there are few detailed figures available on any basis other than the census subdivision, it was decided not to attempt to classify all the residential areas of the city. Instead, in order to convey some idea of the types of residential district found, eight representative sample blocks have been chosen for detailed examination. This method may be compared with the study of typical farms in a rural area.