Wakari ( ) is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, immediately to the west of the ridge which runs to the west of the city's centre. Wakari lies to the north of the upper reaches of the

Kaikorai Valley Kaikorai Valley is a long broad valley which runs through the west of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, to the west of the city centre. It is the valley of a small stream, the Kaikorai Stream, which runs from northeast to southwest down the ...

, and is also north of the suburb of Kaikorai. The suburbs of Roslyn and

Maori Hill Māori Hill is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located at the northern end of the ridge which runs in a crescent around the central city's western edge, to the northwest of the city centre, immediately above and w ...

are situated on the ridge immediately to the southeast and east of Wakari. The suburb of

Halfway Bush Halfway Bush is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, close to the point at which Taieri Road becomes the winding rural Three Mile Hill Road. It was this road which gave the suburb its n ...

lies to the northwest, and the smaller suburb of

Helensburgh Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local gove ...

lies to the north. Wakari is an anglicisation of the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

Whakaari, "exposed to view". This is the

name for the hill, Flagstaff, which lies to the northwest. A

shibboleth A shibboleth (; hbo, , šībbōleṯ) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passwo ...

is that many (though not all) local residents pronounce the name as "wy-kar-ree" (). The suburb is bounded in the south by Taieri Road, a main suburban arterial route which links central Dunedin with the

Taieri Plains The Taieri Plain (also referred to in the plural as the Taieri Plains) is an area of fertile agricultural land to the southwest of Dunedin, in Otago, New Zealand. The plain covers an area of some 300 square kilometres, with a maximum extent of ...

. West of Halfway Bush, the road becomes

Three Mile Hill 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

Road, crossing the eponymous hill to reach the Taieri Plain northeast of

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

. To the southeast of Wakari, Taieri Road runs under the

Roslyn Overbridge The Roslyn Overbridge (also known as Roslyn Bridge or Highgate Bridge) is a landmark in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. Located northwest of the city's centre ( The Octagon), it allows for the passage of the arterial Upper Stuart Street under ...

and becomes Stuart Street, one of central Dunedin's main streets. Other main roads in and around Wakari include Balmacewen Road in the northern part of the suburb, Helensburgh Road in the northeast, Nairn Street, and Shetland Street. Wakari's most prominent structure is the

Wakari Hospital Wakari Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is situated in the suburb of Wakari, about three kilometres north-west of the city centre. The hospital is operated by the Southern District Health Board (formerly Ota ...

, one of Dunedin's main health care centres, which specialises in psychiatric services. This hospital is located in the west of the suburb, close to its boundary with Halfway Bush. Arai te Uru Marae is also located in Wakari. It is a ''

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

'' (meeting ground) of

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Point ...

and includes Arai te Uru ''

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''whare'' ( ...

'' (meeting house). It is next to Balmacewen Intermediate School.

Demographics

Wakari covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Wakari had a population of 4,098 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 276 people (7.2%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 405 people (11.0%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 1,725 households. There were 1,929 males and 2,169 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.89 males per female. The median age was 37.3 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 780 people (19.0%) aged under 15 years, 828 (20.2%) aged 15 to 29, 1,896 (46.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 600 (14.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 85.3% European/Pākehā, 9.6% Māori, 2.9% Pacific peoples, 8.8% Asian, and 3.5% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 19.4%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 56.3% had no religion, 32.2% were Christian, 1.0% were Hindu, 1.2% were Muslim, 0.4% were Buddhist and 2.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 996 (30.0%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 492 (14.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 453 people (13.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,626 (49.0%) people were employed full-time, 528 (15.9%) were part-time, and 114 (3.4%) were unemployed.

Education

Wakari School is a state contributing primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of students. The school started in 1858. St Mary's School is a state-integrated Catholic school for Year 1 to 6 students. It has a roll of students. It started in St Mary's Church in 1913. Balmacewen Intermediate is a state intermediate school for Year 7 to 8 students, with a roll of students. It first opened in 1964. All these schools are co-educational. Rolls are as of From 1878 to 1883, a secondary boarding and day school for boys, St Aloysius College, was operated by the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

at Wakari. That school's site is now occupied by a golf course (Balmacewen Course),"The Course", ''The Otago Golf Club''
(Retrieved 26 August, 2022) the 10th hole of which is still called "the monastery".Jesuitica: Jesuits in New Zealand, Society of Jesus, Chinese Province
(retrieved 25 August 2022)

References

{{Dunedin suburbs Suburbs of Dunedin