MBHG2018_V1_00 is a major released version of the annually released meshblock boundaries concorded to higher geographies as at 1 January 2018 as defined by Stats NZ. This version contains 53,589 meshblocks. This Meshblock Higher Geographies 2018 file is a correspondence, or concordance, which relates meshblocks to larger geographic areas or 'higher geographies'. The higher geographies contained in this concordance are: community board (CB2018), constituency (CON2018), Māori constituency (MCON2018), regional council (REGC2018), statistical area 1 (SA12018), statistical area 2 (SA22018), subdivision (TASUB2018), territorial authority (TA2018), urban rural (UR2018), urban rural indicator (IUR2018), and ward (WARD2018). The following geographies were first introduced in 2018: statistical area 1 (SA12018), statistical area 2 (SA22018), urban rural (UR2018), and urban rural indicator (IUR2018). These new geographies are part of the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18) which replaces the 1992 New Zealand Standard Areas Classification (NZSAC92). The statistical standard for geographic areas is to be used from 2018 (SSGA18). It defines the Stats NZ input and output geographic classifications and describes their primary purposes, and sets out requirements and guidelines for the creation and maintenance of statistical geographies. For further information on individual higher geographies, refer to their metadata.
Source
The digital meshblock boundaries are stored and maintained by Stats NZ. Non-alignment of meshblock and cadastral boundaries are one of a number of reasons for meshblock boundary adjustments. Other reasons include requests from local authorities, Local Government Commission, Electoral Representation Commission and to make census enumeration processes easier. From the generalised meshblock pattern, higher geographies are dissolved using the dissolve tool in the Arc GIS suite to create multiple output datasets.
