page_title: History of the Dunedin urban area
section_title: The Great Depression and world war
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Dunedin urban area / Fighting the relative decline (early 1900s) / The Great Depression and world war
caption_attribution_description: English: de Havilland DH86 Express DH86 Express ZK-AEG 'Karoro' was purchased by Union Airways of New Zealand in 1935. Photographed flying over Dunedin before World War 2. possibly on 5 Jan 1936 The aircraft saw service between Palmerston North and Dunedin and Blenheim and Christchurch Initially registered ZK-AEG 14 August 1935. Arrived at Lyttelton aboard 'Waipawa' 30 Nov 1935 Registered to Union Airways Dec 12 1935 and named 'Karoro'. Impressed into RNZAF 13 Oct 1939 as NZ 553.
context_page_description: The villages and then city that lay at the head of Otago Harbor never existed in isolation, but have always been a staging ground between inland Otago and the wider world. While Dunedin's current official city limits extend north to Waikouaiti, inland to Middlemarch and south to the Taieri River mouth, this articles focus is the history of the Dunedin urban area, only mentioning Mosgiel, the Otago Peninsula, Port Chalmers and inland Otago for context.
  Archaeological evidence shows the first Māori occupation of the wider Dunedin area occurred within decades of their arrival in New Zealand. The population at this time was concentrated along the southern coast and they relied on seals and to a lesser extent moa for the bulk of their food. With reduced moa and seal numbers the population slumped. Elsewhere in New Zealand it grew again with the evolution of the horticulture based Classic culture, necessitating fortified villages. However, this culture did not fully spread to the colder southern South Island. In this period there were two Māori settlements in what is now central Dunedin—Ōtepoti and Puketai.
context_section_description: Dunedin's population had a slight decline during the depression, when it fell by 3,000 to 82,000. With the 1930s an international depression set in. In early 1932 there were urban riots later repeated in the northern centres. Despite the city's slow growth the university continued to expand boosted by its monopoly in health sciences. The developing Colleges and Halls saw the establishment of a student quarter.
caption: A Union Airways of New Zealand de Havilland DH.86 flies over the Octagon in the 1930s.
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