Napier-Hastings Urban Area

Napier-Hastings Urban Area
Napier-Hastings Urban Area Hastings/Napier
Coordinates: 39°35′0″S 176°51′0″E / 39.58333°S 176.85000°E / -39.58333; 176.85000
Country	New Zealand
Region	Hawke's Bay
Area
• Territorial	5,335 km2 (2,060 sq mi)
Elevation	9 m (30 ft)
Population (June 2017)[1]
• Territorial	139,600
• Density	26/km2 (68/sq mi)
• Urban	133,000
Postcodes	4120, 4122

The Napier-Hastings Urban Area lies mostly on the Heretaunga Plains of the Hawke's Bay Region in New Zealand and is a conurbation surrounding the twin cities of Napier and Hastings. It is the sixth most populous urban area in the country, with 133,000 residents,^[1] just slightly fewer than Tauranga (137,900).

While the two cities remain separated by 9 km (5.6 mi) of rural land from city edge to edge (20 km from one city centre to the next), there is sufficient economic and social integration between the cities that Statistics New Zealand considers them as a single unit. However, like the urban areas of Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington, the Napier-Hastings urban area is subdivided into urban zones. The urban area contains around three-quarters of the population of the entire Hawke's Bay.

If Hastings and Napier were to amalgamate they would become the sixth most populous city in New Zealand following Tauranga.

Satellite photo of southern Hawke Bay, including all of the Napier-Hastings Urban Area

Geography

Seismicity

Hawke's Bay is one of the most seismically active regions in New Zealand, and as so Napier-Hastings has experienced many large and often damaging earthquakes in the past. More than 50 damaging earthquakes have rocked the area since the European colonisation in the 1800s. Some of the more notable are listed below.

Education

Napier-Hastings offers a variety of colleges and tertiary studies for students. The Eastern Institute of Technology, commonly abbreviated to EIT or EIT HB is located along the banks of the Tutaekuri River and offers many different courses for students both in and out of the region. EIT serves as the main regional tertiary education centre for both Hawke's Bay and Gisborne regions. There are 3 campuses: Hawke's Bay, Auckland and Gisborne.

Secondary Schools are as follows:

Urban Zones

For more information, see Napier, New Zealand and Hastings, New Zealand respectively.

Amalgamation

Amalgamation is an ongoing debate for Napier and Hastings residents. Both cities have previously had smaller amalgamations (Napier absorbed Taradale, Hastings absorbed Havelock North in the local government reforms of 1989).

There was a referendum on forming a joint Hastings and Napier in 1999, which resulted in 75% 'no' vote from Napier residents, and a 64% 'yes' vote from Hastings residents. Many say the referendum was called too early and many Napier residents were still bitter about the closing of Napier Hospital in 1998 and making Hastings Hospital the only public hospital in the region.

A proposal in 2015 was for the new council to also absorb the Wairoa and Central Hawkes Bay councils to make a super regional council of 150,000 people.^[2] This amalgamation referendum was held in September 2015, the majority of voters (~66%) rejected the proposal in favour of the status quo.^[3]

Part of recognition of New Zealand's 5th largest population centre is being labelled that way. Many residents have bought forth renaming the city to reflect this to the rest of the nation instead of referring to the cities by their current separate names. Names proposed include:

• Heretaunga (the name of the plains that both cities are situated)
• Hawkes Bay City (reflecting both recognised location and 'city' status)
• Hawke (again, coinciding with the name of the region)
• The Bay City (This perhaps is more in jest, and is already a common nickname)
• Napier-Hastings (The status quo, but still does not address the issue)

References