The changing face of Wellington

By KELLY BURNS - The Dominion Post

Last updated 05:00 05/09/2009

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Asians calling Wellington home are changing the face of the capital making it a truly international city.

The capital has the most New Zealand-born Chinese and Indian people, reflecting its close ties with Asia.

With strong ethnic communities, diplomatic posts and international students, Wellington has the second-largest Asian population, after Auckland.

By 2021 the number of Asian people in the city is predicted to double from 37,000 to 61,000.

An Asia NZ Foundation report, Asians in Wellington: Changing the ethnic profile of the capital city, by Auckland University's Wardlow Friesen, found the "ethnoscape" was changing. While Wellington has long-term links with China and India, migrants from Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines, are now settling here.

Director of policy and research Andrew Butcher said the Asian population was remarkably diverse and spread through the city. The 51 per cent predicted population growth to 2021 would include more people identifying with more than one ethnic group. But it was lower than past years.

"There has been a much larger increase in the last 20 years than what's projected."

The city has 121 restaurants identified as "Asian" in the latest Yellow Pages and its 15 Thai restaurants make it the highest number per capita in the country.

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast said the report showed how far the city had come in terms of diversity of its population, which was something people had generally embraced and celebrated.

"Its conclusions reflect a very important step on Wellington's journey to becoming a truly international city."

The report is the fifth and final in the series and used Statistics NZ figures from 15 Asian ethnic groups, including Middle Eastern countries, viewed as being "West Asia".

Asians living in Wellington thought the city was "cosmopolitan", "quiet", and its people friendly.

"I never feel like a stranger in this city. Actually now it feels like my home," said Sarjon Warde, originally from Iraq.

The report said a small Chinatown emerged in Wellington in the 19th century as Chinese moved north after the gold rush, whereas Indian settlement was more sporadic and gradual.

Further links were developed with students arriving under the 1951 Colombo Plan.

Now 17.4 per cent of the student population at Victoria University identifies itself as Asian. Many national ethnic associations have headquarters in the city and at least 11 Asian countries have diplomatic representatives.

ASIAN SNAPSHOT

By 2021, the Asian population of Wellington is likely to be about 61,500 - an increase of 51 per cent.

One-third of Chinese and Indians living in Wellington are New Zealand-born.

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There are 121 Asian restaurants in Wellington, including 30 Indian, 29 Chinese and 15 Thai restaurants.

17.4 per cent of students at Victoria University identify themselves as Asian.

Chinese make the highest number of international students at tertiary institutions, while Koreans predominate at secondary school.

31 per cent of Asians have a university degree, higher than the population's 21 per cent average.

Only 13 per cent of Asians do not have a high school qualification, significantly lower than among the total population.

POPULATION

15 largest Asian ethnic groups in Wellington, 2006

Chinese 14,898