Dunedin

Dunedin is Edinburgh transplanted to the Pacific—Scottish Presbyterian settlers chose the name (Dùn Èideann in Gaelic), the architecture, and the dour work ethic that would soon be rewarded with gold. The Free Church of Scotland founded the settlement in 1848, attracted by timber and farmland. Then Gabriel Read found gold at Gabriel's Gully in 1861, and Dunedin became the richest city in New Zealand.

The gold rush transformed everything. Population exploded from 1,700 in 1858 to 39,000 by 1881—briefly making Dunedin New Zealand's largest city. Chinese miners from Guangdong and Guangxi followed, establishing New Zealand's oldest Chinese community. The wealth funded infrastructure that outlasted the gold: railways to Christchurch and Invercargill, grand Victorian buildings, and most consequentially, New Zealand's first university. The University of Otago opened in 1869 with goldfield money, and its medical school would become the institution that defined Dunedin's future.

When the gold ran out, the university remained. Unlike other southern towns that hollowed out in the 20th century, Dunedin's population held steady because students kept arriving. Today (population 132,800 as of 2025) the university anchors an economy of education, tourism, and agriculture—sheep, seafood, and vineyards in the Clutha district. The median household income reached $107,486 in 2024. The city projects 10% population growth over thirty years, planning housing and industrial expansion to absorb it.

By 2026, Dunedin must answer whether a university town in the far south can attract enough students to sustain growth. The Scottish settlement gambled on religion and got gold; the modern city gambles on education and gets stability. Both are forms of faith in what the land cannot guarantee.