Kōrero: Inner-city 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.