A large number of Auckland residents have never leave the city, and it's only predicted to increase. (FILE PHOTO)

Selina Davis has never left Auckland.

She's travelled as far south as Papakura and as far north as Glenfield.

Among the common narrative of people fleeing the big smoke for the greener and cheaper pastures of the regions, it seems Davis may be the exception.

But she's part of a large number of residents who never leave the city, and it's only set to increase, according to a population expert.

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Davis, 19, was born and raised in Ōtāhuhu, has lived in Manurewa East and currently resides in Clendon.

She just started a $20.55 per hour job as a cleaner in south Auckland: travel isn't a priority just yet, and her family and friends live in Auckland.

"It's my home, it's where I went to school ... I just don't feel the need to leave.

"Maybe later when I settle down and stuff, but all my friends are here and my family.

"Plus, I only just started a fulltime job so I can't actually afford to just yet."

Kim Herewini/Supplied Kim Herewini has lived in every suburb in south Auckland, but wouldn't think about stepping out of the city zones to live elsewhere.

The concept of people never leaving Auckland would be surprising to most people, but it's actually quite common, Massey University professor and sociologist Paul Spoonley said.

Between 2014 and 2017, Aucklanders made about 70,000 moves but the bulk of those were inside Auckland city limits.

"There are some dynamics that are going on which can explain it.

"The job growth is here and there's good evidence that people like city life because it gives them the buzz and they can access everything they need.

"We see a lot of movement in New Zealand each year; people moving jobs, houses, and moving out of Auckland.

"But what's been interesting is increasingly, and by far the largest movement, is inside Auckland, so you move to other parts of Auckland.

"There's that myth that people are leaving Auckland and they are, but many more people arrive in Auckland and many more move inside Auckland, not to another part of the country.

"And the number of those Auckland residents who have never been anywhere else in New Zealand is actually quite high, I can't put a figure on it but there's quite a lot of people who have never been outside of the city."

Spoonley said the top two reasons for people moving elsewhere would be a job and partner or family.

"Sometimes when we work with Year 12 and 13 kids, you quite often get, 'I've never been to south Auckland, I've never been to the west coast beaches'. It's like, 'here's my world and it's quite a small world, there's a lot going on in that world but it's a small geographical space'.

"And that's true for the kids in south Auckland, because apart from family, what would be the reason for going to the North Shore?"

For Manurewa resident Kim Herewini, 52, her story was much like Davis's.

She left Auckland aged 18, for the first time, to attend military camp in Waikato but moved back to her hometown a year later.

"Apart from the year I spent in Ngāruawāhia, I've never lived anywhere else.

"I've lived in every suburb in south Auckland at some time in my life.

"One of the things I really like in south Auckland is the people. If you break down anywhere in this country, the best place to break down is south Auckland because people will help you.

"That's my basic theory. People care when the going gets tough and why wouldn't you want to live where people care?"

She now travels as far as Northland and the Bay of Plenty to visit family, but she can see why some people never leave at all.

Spoonley said the phenomenon of people never leaving extends to migrant communities.

"Auckland is a destination gateway city. Our experience is that there is a growing number of people who live in Auckland but their connections are back to their homeland, rather than the rest of New Zealand," he said.

"If you take the Asian communities in Auckland, 75 per cent have been born in another country.

"So they can live their life perfectly OK in Auckland because everything they need can be met here and it's been quite surprising to encounter people who see no reason to travel anywhere else in the country."

DAVID UNWIN/STUFF Professor Paul Spoonley says many people dismiss Auckland as being overpopulated but they are missing out on all it has to offer.

By 2038, Spoonley anticipates about 36 per cent of Auckland's population will be Asian, making it stand out from other diverse cities.

And Auckland will be the only New Zealand city where the European group is a "majority-minority".

He also said Auckland was responsible for about 60 per cent of the population growth in the country, and it's now at a size where it could be considered a country in its own right.

"I really do think Auckland's like a different country these days: its democracy and how it lives its life is completely different to anything else you get elsewhere in New Zealand.

"One of the preconceptions that many New Zealanders have is that Auckland is overpopulated, the infrastructure is under pressure, why would you live there? Once you move out of Auckland, you tend to get that question quite a lot, and I think what it hides is how exciting the city of Auckland has become.

"You've got this opportunity to do all the things you want to do without having to go anywhere else."