The Town Rush Case Study

Scottish Settlers arriving in Dunedin took advantage of the area they chose. These choices both positively and negatively impacted on the surrounding environment. Dunedin benefited from the Gold Rush because it was located close to Central Otago. However, this had a negative impact on the environment because the city soon became polluted from the sudden increase in population. The green space surrounding the city was used to create a town belt, which had a positive effect on sustaining the green space around the city. The Settlers also took advantage of the hills beside the wetlands and reclaimed a lot of area in order to develop more flat land for the city. This had a negative impact on the environment because the landscape was dramatically …show more content…
In the early 20th century, because of the effects heavily industrialisation had had on the environment in Britain, it became fashionable to have green areas in cities. This trend was brought over to New Zealand. Scottish Settlers took advantage of the green areas on the surrounding hills. The people who owned the land donated it to the city and it was labelled as a reserve. As a result, the city created a Town Belt. This had a positive effect on the environment because the city had made a decision to preserve the environment. A lot of plants had been cleared to build the new city so this was positive that they were deciding to preserve this area. The Town Belt still exists to this day. Scottish Settlers decided to reserve some of the green areas in the city specifically for the public to …show more content…
The sudden increase in population from the Gold Rush massively impacted the city because the city did not have the resources to sustain such a huge population. As a result water became polluted so the city had to now collect water from the hills where it would be the most clean. Settlers also took advantage of the Green space surrounding the city and turned it into a Town Belt. This had a positive impact on the environment because this area was being preserved. However, Settlers changed the landscape hugely by the process of reclaiming land which was a negative impact on the environment. All of these examples illustrate ways in which the Scottish Settlers in Dunedin adjusted to the new location and tried to take full advantage of the landscape. In doing so, there was both positive and negative impacts to the