A great big melting pot?

This weekend Auckland celebrates its many different faces at the International Cultural Festival. What will that face look like in 10 years, asks Lauren Mentjox.
WELCOME to Auckland, says the stewardess, her voice tinny through the jumbo-jet speaker. "Please remain seated until the aircraft has stopped outside the terminal building."
Welcome to Auckland. Except you haven't landed in our world-class city today ? you've come home 10 years hence, in 2017. And boy ? or girl ? are you going to notice some changes.
You knew when you left that Aucklanders were yellow, brown and black, but most were pale-skinned and spoke with the last knockings of a British accent. Way back in 2007 there were large networks of migrants: South Africans in Browns Bay, Indians in Papatoetoe, Chinese in Howick and, recent arrivals, Assyrians in Manurewa, Russians in Glen Innes and Germans in Laingholm.
As Dr Ward Friesen, an Auckland University geographer, said at the time: "You only have to walk down Dominion, or New North, Rd to see the diffusing of cultures." He was looking at the 2006 census, which showed that nearly 45 per cent of the region's population was not European. In Manukau City it was already more than 50 per cent.
One in four Aucklanders were Asian (remember, "Asian" includes people from India, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia and other nations as well as China, Korea and Japan). For the first time since the census began, Asians outnumbered Pacific people in our region.
The numbers: 698,622 people identified themselves as European; 234,222 Asian; 177,936 Pacific; 137,133 Maori; 18,555 Middle Eastern, Latin American or African; and 57 as "Other". Just over 145,000 people described themselves as "New Zealander" in the region's population of 1,303,068.
In the decade you've been away, European populations stayed roughly the same or dropped in most of the seven council areas. In Rodney and Franklin, the northern and southern outposts, they rose 37 and 26 per cent respectively.
The Asian community more than doubled everywhere except Rodney and Franklin. The Pasifika population grew by 24 per cent in Auckland City and 66 per cent in Waitakere. Again, it grew everywhere except Rodney and Franklin.
Working from current census projections, the Auckland region is home to just over 1.5 million people in 2017. Some 860,000 call themselves European. There are 183,000 Maori, 256,000 Pasifika and ? wait for it ? 397,000 Asians.
As you get off the airport shuttle in Queen St, you remember that when you left in 2007, most Aucklanders were European. Not so now. They are the minority. Auckland City's Maori, Pasifika and Asian people equalled the European population back in 2011.
So where are the new Aucklanders going to live, work and play? That's the question exercising councils, public services like health and education, migrant groups and academics today.
Professor Paul Spoonley of Massey University began researching immigration in the mid-70s. He has written 24 books, most on migration, cultural identity and ethnic relations. He agrees with the perception that some suburbs are already "ethnic precincts", such as Kingsland (Indian) or Northcote (Chinese).
"Essentially, we can see the co-location of businesses owned and operated by members of a particular ethnic group. Sometimes the clientele are co-ethnics (Korean businesses in Browns Bay) or they might be a mix (Asian Alley)."
The surprise lies in the depth of these local economies. "The obvious ones are the food stores and restaurants, but there are also a large number of insurance or credit/bank companies, services such as dentists, hairdressers or doctors, and other services such as real estate agents, golf suppliers and courses, or media."
Spoonley points to Vancouver and Sydney, where such suburbs are fostered as part of the urban landscape and for their tourist appeal. "The challenge is to ensure that Auckland is welcoming to migrants and to ensure that migrants and host communities interact in various ways. Respect is important."
Could Sydney's Cronulla riots happen here? Not likely, suggests Spoonley: there, longtime residents were marginalised and resorted to extreme measures.
"New Zealand has a relatively low-key approach to how immigrants are treated. But the ethnic differences associated with recent immigration have produced a degree of anxiety amongst some, and there have been some incidents where immigrants have faced a degree of hostility."
There are still areas of tension or difficulty, he warns. "Sometimes newspapers (as one example) do not really reflect the ethnic diversity of Auckland. Labels such as 'Asian' are simply misleading, given where these immigrants are from and how different these communities are.
"Ethnic media ? newspapers, TV, websites, radio stations ? have proliferated as a result, and the number would probably surprise most Aucklanders."
Another issue ? highlighted by The Aucklander last year ? is whether employers recognise immigrants' skills and education. "There are still too many employers who do not see immigrants as first-choice employees, and who discriminate on the basis of where someone has come from, their surname or their accent," says Spoonley.
With all the talk about "Asian" immigration, you might be surprised to hear that the biggest source of new New Zealanders in the year to June 2006, with 22,400 arrivals, was the United Kingdom. Australians came second.
Because we are used to hearing those accents we forget they are new migrants, says Dr Friesen, who suspects that immigration from the UK will continue alongside increasing diversity from migrants from all over the world.
"People are coming here for more of a sense of getting away from the dangers of the world," he says. "But it's also because there is more global mobility. There is a greater flow of people."
The housing market is a major driver and will continue to be. That's why Mt Roskill and Mt Albert have become popular entry points to Auckland City for the Indian and Chinese communities, just as Mangere and Manurewa have in the South, says Dr Friesen.
Eden/Albert Community Board chairwoman Lindsey Rea says her ward's range of housing attracts many groups. Long-time residents enjoy the "what used to be a teahouse is now a noodle bar" look of modern Mt Albert.
These changes cause concern elsewhere. Keith Sharp, for the Panmure Community Action Group, notes strong reservations about Auckland City's housing plans.
"Badly planned and cheaply built high-density housing, mixed with a variety of new immigrant groups, could be a recipe for disaster. That's the biggest fear," he says.
"The trick will be to ensure that cultural mix is handled and harnessed in a way that makes the town a better place."
Nearby, Tamaki Community Board chairwoman Kate Sutton says she hears people saying the area has changed, that there are "more poor people and brown people".
She has noticed a growing number of young, mainly white middle-class families buying in Glen Innes and Panmure, as well as in Pt England and Otahuhu. She believes this will happen more in the next decade and will push poorer people into cheaper properties in South Auckland.
She recalls how Pacific Island communities in Ponsonby and Grey Lynn became gentrified, and suggests that could happen in Sandringham.
In the West, Ann Pala, president of the Waitakere Ethnic Board, says competitive house prices and a good rental market have helped make Waitakere the "city of choice" for many migrants in recent years. That, and a growing acceptance of other cultures, has made the city home to 50 ethnic groups: Pacific peoples, Middle Easterners, Dutch, Croatians, Japanese and Burundians.
Auckland Regional Migrant Services communications manager Asoka Basnayake notices a change in patterns, too.
"Historically there was a large Indian population in South Auckland. More recent Indian and Sri Lankan migrants, as well as many other Asian migrants ? Chinese, Koreans ? live closer to what they consider good schools in Epsom, Mt Roskill, on the Shore or in South Auckland," she says.
Mrs Basanyake, originally from Sri Lanka, says Auckland has adjusted to migrants' needs.
"I moved to Auckland so I could still have some links with my culture ? such as buying ingredients to make our own food, send my children for language classes and dancing lessons, network with my own community.
"I have opportunities that cater to my cultural needs ? such as having books in my own language at the library."
Why shy?
Auckland City Council strategic planner Erica Law says the region's cultural diversity is here to stay, and that it is likely to become more, rather than less, obvious.
The council is working on projects to overcome "shyness and ignorance" among people who already live here.
"There is a little bit of a 'Who are these people and what does that mean for us?' mentality," she says. Events such as this weekend's International Cultural Festival, Diwali, Pasifika and sports tournaments are hoped to bridge a perceived lack of awareness. In May the council plans to bring out its "inclusive Auckland" policy.
"It's about all people feeling included in Auckland, supporting them in their culture and giving them the opportunity to engage with others," she says.