Every five years, New Zealand conducts a census. Prior to the census occurring, the country is divided up into different areas called Meshblocks, SA1 (statistical area 1) and SA2 (statistical area 2). The boundaries of these areas are built so that each area contains approximately the same number of people.
Now, as the population moves and grows, some of these areas will be more populated in 2018, than in 2013. Some are split in half, or otherwise adjusted, to keep the number of people who live in each of these areas approximately the same.
Source: mashblock.nz
The AddressFinder metadata response includes some of this census related data. The associated census data that is being returned can be determined by including a census parameter in the query string or widget code. If no census parameter is included, the metadata response currently contains the following data from the 2013 census.
meshblock— The meshblock of the 2013 census
After 10 Aug 2020, if no census= parameter is included, the default metadata response for New Zealand addresses will contain the following 2018 census related data.
meshblock— The meshblock of the 2018 census.
sa1_id— The statistical area 1 identifier.
sa2_id— The statistical area 2 identifier.
sa2— Statistical area 2 name.
After 10 Aug 2020, the following related metadata will also be returned in the metadata response if no census parameter is included in the metadata query string.
ur— Urban rural name
ur_id— Urban rural identifier
iur— Urban rural indicator identifier
region_id— Region identifier
ta_id— Territorial Authority identifier
con— Constituency name
con_id— Constituency identifier
maoricon— Maori Constituency name
maoricon_id— Maori Constituency identifier
ward— Ward name
ward_id— Ward identifier
cb— Community Board name
cb_id— Community Board identifier
tasub— Territorial Authority Subdivision name
tasub_id— Territorial Authority Subdivision identifier
landwater— Land/Water description
landwater_id— Land/Water identifier
If you want to collect the 2018 census related data immediately, include the parameter census=2018 in your metadata API query string.
If you are making use of the AddressFinder widget to collect census related data, include the following address metadata parameter in your widget code:
1
2
3
"address_metadata_params": {
"census": 2018
}
You can learn more about census metadata here.
Code example here — https://codepen.io/addressfinder/pen/gqzQRQ
If on the other hand you wish to collect the 2013 census related data now and after Aug 10 2020, include the parameter census=2013 in your metadata API query string.
