Ethnicity: the ethnic group or groups that people identify with or feel they belong to. An ethnic group is defined as a social group whose members have the following four characteristics:

• Share a sense of common origins
• Claim a common and distinctive history and destiny
• Possess one or more dimensions of collective cultural individuality
• Feel a sense of unique collective solidarity

Family: a family consists of two or more people who are members of the same household and who comprise either a couple or at least one parent role / child relationship or both. A familial relationship is defined as one in which a person is related to another household member by blood, marriage (registered or de facto) or adoption. This is a standard Statistics New Zealand definition.
Governance: To make and administer the public policy and affairs; to exercise a deciding or determining influence on.

Household: a household is either one person who usually resides alone or two or more people who usually reside together and share facilities (such as eating facilities, cooking facilities, bathroom and toilet facilities, a living area). This is a standard Statistics New Zealand definition.

Over-represented: to imply or suggest a higher amount or percentage of a population group in a variable than is actually present in the total population.

Physical infrastructure: the basic facilities, services and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions such as schools etc.

Resident: used in a broad sense to describe any person who lives (resides) within a city. In the QOL survey, resident refers to a person living in a household within the city’s boundaries. Residents met a quota of age, ethnicity, gender and ward.

Social cohesion: A component of social capital; social networks that help society function effectively, the voluntary associations that provide linkages between people in the community and enable them to be more effective in business, politics and a wide range of social activities.

Socio-economic status: the status of a population group that involves social as well as economic factors.

Under-represented: to imply or suggest a lower amount or percentage of a population group in a variable than is actually present in the total population.

Urbanisation: the process of a geographical area changing from a rural to an urban (i.e. city) condition.