Hamilton (New Zealand)

Hamilton, the main centre of the Waikato Region of New Zealand’s North Island, is the country’s fourth-largest city, with a 2018 population of 160,911. The main feature of the city is the Waikato River, the longest river in the country. This river extends a full 16 kilometres through the city, and many of the city’s regular activities take place on or around the river. The city has ample greenspace within its borders. Hamilton and its suburbs comprise the Hamilton Urban Zone, one of three zones governed by the Hamilton Urban Area. The other two zones are Cambridge Urban Zone and Te Awamutu Urban Zone.

Agriculture is the largest industry in the Waikato area in general and in Hamilton in particular; manufacturing is a distant second. The entire region’s output makes up 8.5 per cent of New Zealand’s total gross domestic product (GDP). Hamilton has, since the mid-twentieth century, been a centre of tertiary education, with two large universities and many associated research facilities driving employment in a number of fields, from agriculture to digital technology. Hamilton is a stop on both the main north-south motorway and the railway network’s Main Trunk Line.

The settlement was named for Captain John Hamilton, who had lost his life in the Battle of Gate Pa. Hamilton has one of the largest Māori populations of any of the country’s large cities. The Māori name for the city is Kirkiriroa.

Historical Perspective

Māoris have lived in the Hamilton area for several hundred years. European settlement dates to 1864, twenty-four years after the founding of the modern country of New Zealand by the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi by representatives of the British Crown and a number of Māori iwi (tribes). The first European settlers were members of the 4th Waikato Militia Regiment, under the command of William Moule, who named the settlement after Captain John Charles Fane Hamilton, a member of the Royal Navy who died in a battle between English and Māori forces. The Waikato region, in which Hamilton is located, saw many armed struggles between British and Māori.

The settlement, which began as a pair of redoubts on opposite sides of the Waikato River, grew slowly. The two communities each had their own government for a time and could reach each other only by punt across the river. However, the construction of a traffic bridge over the river and the opening of a nearby railway station facilitated the creation of a united settlement, in 1878. The bridge was named Union Bridge. Large swamps on the outskirts of Hamilton were drained, and in their place sprang up farms, mainly dairy.

Gas street lamps appeared in 1895. A water works was opened in 1903, followed by a telephone exchange the next year. Borough records show that the population of Hamilton proper in 1906 was 2,100, with about 800 people living in the nearby settlements of Claudelands and Frankton; both would eventually become suburbs of Hamilton City. A new, much larger bridge across the river, Victoria Bridge, replaced union Bridge in 1910, and in 1916 electricity began to power the city’s homes and businesses. The population of Hamilton, according to the 1945 Census was 22,000. Roads and railway lines had facilitated transportation for the life of the settlement; the construction of an airport in the 1950s made the city easily accessible from around the country.

New Zealand’s deadliest tornado hit the Hamilton suburb of Frankton in 1948, killing three people, injuring eighty more, and destroying or badly damaging 150 buildings. Estimated damage was NZ$92 million in 2024 money.

Reflecting the area’s agricultural focus was the establishment in the 1940s of the Ruakura Research Centre, specialising in agritech and biotech businesses. The focus on education strengthened in the 1960s, with the founding of Waikato University in 1964 and the Waikato Institute of Technology in 1966. In that year, the population was 63,000. Attendance at the city’s universities picked up in the 1990s, extending into the tens of thousands.

Rugby Park (now Waikato Stadium) was the site of a major anti-apartheid protest in 1981. The South African national team, the Springboks, was on a tour of New Zealand, playing against various New Zealand teams in a handful of cities around the country. The contest in Hamilton was cancelled after several hundred protesters stormed the field and refused to leave.

Geography and Climate

The city of Hamilton is located in the Northeast of North Island. The city is relatively flat, built on a floodplain between volcanic ranges. The dominant geographical feature of the city is the Waikato River, which flows for 16 kilometres through the city centre. At 425 kilometres, the Waikato is the longest river in the country. Surrounding the city are farms and peat bogs, the successors to the swamps drained by early settlers. The Waikato region also has a number of important wetlands supporting large bird populations. Kiwi are common in the area’s ecological reserves, which are also home to several endangered species.

Hamilton’s climate is classified as oceanic. The city can be among the hottest in the country in summer and among the lowest in the country in winter. Strong humidity adds to both of these extremes. Winter temperatures routinely reach or dip below the freezing point; snow is extremely rare, however. Summer temperatures routinely reach the upper 20s in degrees Celsius. In general, February is the warmest and driest month; just one month later, March, is generally the wettest month. July, in the middle of the winter in the Southern Hemisphere, generally has the coolest temperatures. Even though March generally gets the most rainfall overall of any month, it is the winter months of June, July, August, and September that have the most days with rain; a reverse situation exists in regard to the summer months, with more days with sunshine occurring in November, December, January and February. Because of its inland location, Hamilton has the lowest average wind speed of any of New Zealand’s large cities.

Economy

The dairy industry dominates the Hamilton economy. The annual National Agricultural Fieldays is the largest agricultural trade show in the Southern Hemisphere; it takes place at Mystery Creek, just outside Hamilton. Associated research industries form an important sector as well. As of 2022, the healthcare and manufacturing sectors were the largest business sector in Hamilton, as measured by GDP. Not far behind were professional, scientific and technical services. Rounding out the top five sectors were construction, retail trade, and education and training.

Of the top five sectors, the one that has shown the sharpest growth in the twenty-first century is the health care and social assistance sector. The large Waikato Hospital is located in Hamilton and employs more than 6,500 people. The city is home to several other hospitals as well.

The population of Hamilton has grown steadily since the late twentieth century, and this has created steady growth in jobs and industries associated with construction of homes, shops and facilities. During the 2008 global financial crisis, like other New Zealand cities, Hamilton suffered less than did other cities of its size in other countries around the world.

Demographics

Overall population figures showed that the population of Hamilton (160,911 in 2018) was 63.6 per cent European, 23.7 per cent Māori, 18.5 per cent Asian, 6.1 per cent Pacific Peoples, and 2.2 per cent Middle Eastern, Latin America and African. As of the 2018 Census figures, Hamilton’s largest foreign-born population is from Asia (12.7 per cent), the United Kingdom (3.9 per cent), Middle East and Africa (3.4 percent), and other Pacific Islandas (3.2 per cent). The city is home to more than eighty ethnic groups.

The city has a sizable student population attending one or both of the city’s institutions of higher education: the University of Waikato and the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec). More than half the city’s residents are thirty years old or younger. Hamilton has six state secondary schools, several state primary schools, and a number of private schools; in addition, Hamilton is home to a number of Kura Kaupapa Māori, schools that instruct Māori students in the Māori language.

Automotive transportation is far and away the vehicle of choice for commuters and travellers within Hamilton. The city does have a bus network and an extensive network of cycle paths, but the numbers of people who use those transport options pale when compared to the number of drivers on the various city roads. Hamilton is a transportation hub for the North Island’s primary north-south motorway and the Main Trunk Line.

Landmarks

Hamilton Gardens is a collection of twenty-one gardens on 54 hectares of what used to be the city’s rubbish dump. Some of the gardens re-create famous gardens from other countries (among them China, England, Italy and Japan) and earlier times.

Claudelands Reserve is a large area combining structures and open space. It includes Claudelands Showgrounds and Waikato Events Centre. The reserve was home to many events in the early days of the settlement, such as the A&P (agricultural and pastoral) shows, a staple of rural New Zealand life. A horse racing track premiered in the reserve in 1885. Jubilee Bush is a forest in the suburb of Claudelands, next to Claudelands Reserve, that has many native trees, some of them very old. Many are kahikatea, a native New Zealand tree that formed the basis of many early homes, including those of the first settlers. Hamilton Zoo, at 25 hectares is the largest zoo on the North Island. Established in 1969, the zoo is now home to six hundred native and exotic animals. Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park is a 60-hectare open space across the road from Hamilton Zoo. The park aims to recreate the ecosystem of the area before settlers arrived.

The Waikato River itself is a prime location for many recreational events. One annual sporting event, called the 5 Bridges challenge, has swimmers navigate 6 kilometres of the river (passing five of the city’s six bridges along the way). Another annual event involves water skiing down the river. A replica of a paddle boat steamer now takes visitors on tours up and down the river. On the Waikato’s east bank, at the edge of Soldiers Memorial Park, is what is left of the paddle steamer Rangiriri, which the first settlers used to bring them to the first settlement point. Soldiers Memorial Park was established as a World War I memorial and has memorials to those who died in later wars as well, in addition to a replica of the famed Spitfire plane used by the Royal Air Force in World War II. Across the river is the Waikato Museum.

Not far from the Waikato Museum, is a popular Victoria Street shopping district and the Riff Raff Statue. This life-size bronze statue depicts actor and one-time Hamilton resident Richard O’Brien in the role of Riff Raff from the cult movie classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Waikato Stadium, which began its life as Rugby Park, is Hamilton’s premier rugby venue. The stadium is the host venue for the Waikato Chiefs, of the Super Rugby union international competition. Seddon Park is the city’s major cricket ground. It has been the host venue for several international professional cricket events.

Bibliography

“Economic Data and Reports.” Hamilton City Council, 2024, hamilton.govt.nz/your-city/our-citys-economy/economic-data-and-reports/. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Hamilton City.” Stats New Zealand, www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-place-summaries/hamilton-city. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Hamilton Climate by Month.” Weather & Climate, weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,hamilton,New-Zealand. Accessed 11 June 2024.

“Hamilton’s History.” Hamilton New Zealand/Hamilton i-SITE Visitor Information Centre, www.visithamilton.co.nz/welcome/hamilton-history. Accessed 11 June 2024.