Statistical Area 1 Higher Geographies 2018 Clipped (generalised)

SA1HG2018_V1_00_Clipped is a major released version of the annually released statistical area 1 (SA1) boundaries concorded to higher geographies as at 1 January 2018, clipped to the coastline.

This clipped version contains 29,688 SA1s and has been created for map creation/cartographic purposes and may not fully represent the official full extent boundaries.

This Statistical Area 1 Higher Geographies 2018 file is a correspondence, or concordance, which relates SA1s to larger geographic areas or 'higher geographies'.

The higher geographies contained in this concordance are: regional council (REGC2018), statistical area 2 (SA22018), territorial authority (TA2018), urban rural (UR2018), and urban rural indicator (IUR2018).

The following geographies were 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.

Statistical area geographies are aggregations of meshblocks optimised to be of similar population sizes to enable the release of low-level data. They are non-administrative areas that are in between meshblocks and territorial authorities in size. Statistical areas either define or aggregate to define urban rural areas, territorial authorities, and regional councils.

The statistical area 1 (SA1) geography is a new output geography that allows the release of more detailed information about population characteristics than is available at the meshblock level.

The statistical area 2 (SA2) geography replaces the area unit geography. Although the concepts for SA2s are generally the same as the area unit concepts, the boundaries and names have changed to reflect changes in land use and population patterns since the 1992 geography was created.

The urban rural geography classifies New Zealand into areas that share common urban or rural characteristics. It is used to disseminate a broad range of Stats NZ’s social, demographic, and economic statistics.

The urban rural geography separately identifies urban areas, rural settlements, other rural areas, and water areas. The urban areas represent densely developed spaces, and encompass residential, commercial, and other non-residential urban land uses. Rural settlements, other rural areas, and bodies of water represent areas not included within an urban area.

Urban areas and rural settlements are delineated by the inspection of aerial imagery, local government land designations on district plan maps, address registers, property title data, and any other available information. However, because the underlying meshblock pattern is used to define the geographies, boundaries may not align exactly with local government land designations or what can be seen in aerial images.

Urban areas are built from SA2s. Rural and water areas are built from SA1s.

The urban rural indicator classifies urban, rural, and water areas by type.

The indicators, with their codes in brackets, are:

• urban area – urban major (11), urban large (12), urban medium (13), urban small (14)

• rural area – rural settlement (21), rural other (22)

• water – inland water (31), inlet (32), oceanic (33).