List of cities in New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand creates standards for statistical geographic areas that are the basis for determining population figures. Statistics New Zealand announced in 2017 that the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18) would replace the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 (NZSAC92). The change impacted Wellington most, by splitting it into four urban areas, being the Wellington city and Lower Hutt city "major urban areas" and Porirua and Upper Hutt "large urban areas". Wellington as defined by Statistics New Zealand approximately halved in size, and Lower Hutt entered the city rankings in sixth place between Tauranga and Dunedin.[3] Many satellite towns that had been included within a larger NZSAC92 urban area became urban areas in their own right under SSGA18, with Hibiscus Coast being split from Auckland and joining the list of large urban areas. Napier-Hastings was also split into its constituent cities and towns rather than being one combined urban area.

The table below contains all "major urban areas" (100,000 or more residents) and all "large urban areas" (30,000 to 99,999 residents).[4] The urban area that will next move from the "medium urban area" category to the "large urban area" category is Paraparaumu (30,400).

"Major" and "large" urban areas

Rank	Urban area	Population	Area (km²)[5]	Population density (per km²)	Image
1	Auckland	1,440,300	607.10	2,372.8
2	Christchurch	377,900	295.15	1,280.4
3	Wellington	212,000	112.29	1,888.0
4	Hamilton	179,900	110.37	1,630.0
5	Tauranga	158,300	135.12	1,171.6
6	Lower Hutt	111,500	78.52	1,420.0
7	Dunedin	102,400	91.58	1,118.1
8	Palmerston North	81,200	76.92	1,055.6
9	Napier	66,800	104.90	636.8
10	Porirua	60,200	60.96	987.5
11	Hibiscus Coast	60,000	42.90	1,398.6
12	New Plymouth	58,500	75.49	774.9
13	Rotorua	57,900	48.12	1,203.2
14	Whangārei	54,900	57.06	962.1
15	Nelson	50,800	54.33	935.0
16	Hastings	50,400	24.42	2,063.9
17	Invercargill	49,800	60.70	820.4
18	Upper Hutt	44,800	540.1	875.5
19	Whanganui	42,600	40.35	1,055.8
20	Gisborne	37,700	36.17	1,042.3

Until the end of 2017, the standard devised in 1991 that applied was the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992.[3] The populations given in the table below are provisional June 2018[6] New Zealand resident populations and they refer to the entire urban area as defined in NZSAC92. As these figures apply to multiple council areas rather than singular ones, they are considered to be New Zealand's metropolitan areas.

Notes:

1. Kapiti Urban Area (42,700) is the only Statistics New Zealand main urban area not listed. It spans the towns of Ōtaki, Paekākāriki, Paraparaumu, Raumati Beach, Raumati South, Peka Peka and Waikanae, and is not considered to be a city. It is part of the Greater Wellington Regional Council's area – though listed separately by Statistics New Zealand.
2. The population for the Hamilton urban zone is 203,100, the Cambridge urban zone is 20,600 and the Te Awamutu urban zone is 17,500.
3. The population for the Hastings urban zone is 70,600 and for the Napier urban zone is 63,900.
4. Blenheim (31,600) is rarely referred to as a city.
5. Pukekohe, a town in the south of the Auckland Region, has an estimated population of 31,400.
6. Timaru (29,100) once had a city council, but is now administered by a district council. It is classified as a secondary urban area by Statistics New Zealand. It is still considered a city and the principal centre of South Canterbury. Road signs state "city centre" rather than "town centre".
7. Taupō (24,700) is rarely referred to as a city.
8. Masterton (22,200), the main centre and the town with the largest population in the Wairarapa, is rarely referred to as a city.
9. Levin (21,200), the main centre in the Horowhenua district, is not considered to be a city.
10. Tokoroa was long expected to become a city when its population continued to grow past 18,000 during the 1980s. However, with the fallback in the forestry industry, Tokoroa's main industry, many jobs were lost and Tokoroa's population declined. It now has 14,050 residents.

The populations given are the latest (June 2018)[6] Statistics New Zealand estimated resident populations.

Many cities were reorganised into districts by the Local Government Commission in 1989 under the Local Government Act 1974, for example Timaru. Other urban areas that are no longer cities, such as Rotorua and Whangārei, have higher populations than some present cities. The most recently proclaimed city is Tauranga, which became a city, for the second time, from 1 March 2004. Christchurch (1862 and 1868) and Invercargill (1930 and 1991) have also been declared cities more than once.

Under Section 27 of the Local Government Act 2002, a district may become a city by either a "reorganisation scheme" with the Local Government Commission, or under Section 27(1) it may apply for a change in status under Schedule 3, Clause 7. The new city must have "a population of not less than 50,000 persons", be "predominantly urban" and "a distinct entity and a major centre of activity within the region" (or regions) that it is encompassed by. Existing cities are grandfathered under Schedule 2, Part 2 of the Act. The only new city council so far under this section is the Tauranga City Council, from 1 March 2004.

Previously, under Section 37L of the Local Government Act 1974, new cities could only be formed from a "reorganisation scheme". The same criteria were used. The last city to be constituted under this section was Invercargill, which was re-reorganised into a city in 1991.

In 1991 the Lower Hutt City Council became the Hutt City Council by a special Act of Parliament that which did not change the name of the city of Lower Hutt; the city's coat of arms still refers to the "City of Lower Hutt".

During provincialism in New Zealand, from 1852 until abolition in 1876, there was no uniform system of local authorities in New Zealand. There is thus some argument over which of the following cities was the first.

• Nelson (1858, by Letters Patent)
• Christchurch (November 1862, revoked June 1868, both by provincial ordinance, and restored October 1868 by Act of Parliament)
• Otago (later Dunedin) (July 1865)

The Municipal Corporations Act 1876 included the first schedule of cities, with the dates they were constituted. Dunedin was the first city in New Zealand to be described in an Act of Parliament as 'City of...', something now automatic under the Local Government Act 2002.

• Dunedin (4 July 1865)
• Christchurch (28 May 1868)
• Wellington (16 September 1870)
• Auckland (24 April 1871)
• Nelson (30 March 1874)

Up to October 1989, the Local Government Commission under took reorganisations of local government. As a result, some cities were reorganised into other larger cities or changed to districts, and some of these areas are still considered cities by many New Zealanders. This is a list as at circa 1986.

• North Island
  • Whangārei (1964)
  • Auckland
    • Auckland (1871)
    • East Coast Bays
    • Takapuna
    • Birkenhead
    • Waitemata (1974)
    • Mt Albert
    • Papatoetoe
    • Manukau (1965)
    • Papakura
    • Tamaki
  • Hamilton (1936)
  • New Plymouth (1949)
  • Tauranga (1963) (lost city status 1989, regained 2004)
    • Bethlehem
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Papamoa
    • Welcome Bay
  • Rotorua (1962, merged into Rotorua District, 1979)
  • Gisborne (1955)
  • Napier (1950)
  • Hastings (1956)
  • Wanganui (1924) (merged with surrounding counties to become Whanganui District, 1989)
  • Palmerston North (1930)
  • Wellington
    • Wellington (1870)
    • Upper Hutt (1966)
    • Lower Hutt (1941)
    • Porirua (1965)
• South Island
  • Nelson (1874)
  • Christchurch (1868)
  • Timaru (1948)
  • Dunedin (1865)
  • Invercargill (1930)