Story: City planning

Nelson town blocks (2nd of 2)

This map shows the street plan of Nelson – which survives largely as planned – and the distribution of the urban sections. The centre of the plan was Trafalgar Square, which never became a market square, but the site of Nelson Cathedral. The colour coding shows land sales and reserves: blue was land that had been sold, yellow were Company reserves, red were colonial (government) reserves and green were native (Māori) reserves – the Native Tenths Reserves. One hundred acres (40 hectares) of Nelson town (one-eleventh, not one-tenth) was set aside in 1842, but much of this was later alienated by the Crown, to the severe detriment of local Māori.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: MapColl 834.1953gbbd/1842/Acc.3045

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Ben Schrader, 'City planning - Early settlement planning', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/25719/nelson-town-blocks (accessed 26 April 2024)

Story by Ben Schrader, published 11 Mar 2010, updated 26 Mar 2015