‘Sad to see it’s gone’: The lost Chinese market gardens that once fed Auckland
The Auckland Heritage Festival is highlighting the history of Chinese market gardeners who helped feed the city in the late 19th century. Historians are using the festival to bring attention to these often-overlooked migrant contributions, which are now buried beneath modern urban developments like the Carlaw Park Student Village.
Why it matters
It preserves the cultural heritage of migrant communities and provides historical context to the urban development of major cities.
Located beside Auckland Domain, the Carlaw Park Student Village in Parnell is a cluster of seven residential buildings housing about 700 University of Auckland students.
Each day, students stream between the village and the campus nearby with little indication of what once occupied the land beneath the concrete and glass.
More than a century ago, this part of central Auckland was home to market gardens cultivated by Chinese migrants whose labour helped feed the city and became part of Auckland's largely overlooked urban history.
This history has been brought back into focus during this year's Auckland Heritage Festival, which runs from 26 September to 11 October.
Under the theme "Taste of Tāmaki," the festival explores the history and heritage of food and beverages across the city, including the story of Chinese market gardening in central Auckland and the role migrant growers played in feeding a rapidly expanding city.
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