Story: Inner-city living

Slum-like living

When middle-class families left the inner city for new suburban homes, the poor remained. Many lived in squalid places infested with vermin. This 1911 collage of inner Auckland was published in the press to highlight the health risks posed by such conditions. The images show (clockwise from top left): a child drinking from an outside tap; a tenement where six families lived in the basement; a rat-infested stable; a house converted into four flats; a living room in a condemned house; and a typical backyard.

Using this item

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira
Reference: New Zealand Graphic, 12 April 1911, p. 3

Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Philip Morrison and Ben Schrader, 'Inner-city living - Early inner-city living and its decline', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/23735/slum-like-living (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by Philip Morrison and Ben Schrader, published 11 Mar 2010