Auckland was the sole exception to this rule. One of the largest cities in the world by land area, it was already suffering from considerable transport and infrastructure problems even in 2000. By the late 2010's this problem had become so extreme that Aucklanders were, by necessity, some of the first to make widespread use of computer networks to avoid having to travel. As these technologies fully matured in the 2040's the population of Auckland started to decline, as people moved into less crowded communities. In 2054 the Northshore Arcology became the first arcology in New Zealand. Within twenty years it was followed by three more arcologies in the Auckland region (Henderson, Remuera, and Central) and one each in Wellington and Southland. The latest such project is the Manukau arcology, and when completed in 2105 this will be the largest structure (by volume) in the world.
New Zealand is often pointed out as a model example of near complete decivilization. There are only three cities with populations over 200,000 (Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington) and these all have at least 20% of their land area devoted to parks and natural reserves. Auckland was something of a blot on this image during the 2080's, but this disappeared as the population increasingly moved into the arcologies. Today Auckland seen from across the habor is a distinctive and beautiful image, with the ivory towers of the arcologies rising from blue waters and native forest.