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Asian communities are breaking out of their comfort zones and settling in most parts of Auckland, an Asia New Zealand report has found.
The report - Diverse Auckland: The Face of New Zealand in the 21st Century - found that China-born immigrants are moving out of Howick and Pakuranga into the "Korean territory" of North Shore, while Koreans are moving into areas such as Waitakere City, East Tamaki and the Auckland CBD. Indians, once concentrated in Mt Albert and Mt Roskill, are also moving into the wealthier areas of Howick and East Tamaki.
Foundation research director Andrew Butcher said: "A growing number of Asian immigrants are now deliberately not wanting to be part of their own ethnic enclaves and want to live somewhere where they can really be part of a truly New Zealand community."
But although some migrants said they moved to New Zealand for "environmental reasons", few Asians settled in the urban periphery and rural areas of the Auckland region.
The smaller Asian groups have distinctive spatial settlement patterns, with the Vietnamese and Cambodians mostly found in South Auckland - because of cultural facilities such as temples and restaurants - and Japanese mostly in Auckland City and the more affluent eastern suburbs.
The report also said immigration from Asia had made a huge impact on New Zealand's national identity and that over time, an increasing number of Asians, whose population is estimated to swell by 51 per cent in Auckland by 2016, will identify themselves as Asian as well as having European, Maori, Pacific and other identities.
Dr Butcher said the fate of New Zealand rested with how well it could embrace this diversity.
"If we look at Auckland today, we see the New Zealand of tomorrow," he said. "How Auckland responds to its growing Asian populations will serve as either a positive or a negative example to the rest of the country."
The Diverse Auckland report, which was prepared by Auckland University geography senior lecturer Dr Wardlow Friesen, will be launched tonight.
