This research examines the connection between accessibility and resilience in post-earthquake Christchurch. This research will provide my community partner with a useful evidence base to help show that increased accessibility does create a more resilient environment. This research uses an in-depth literature review along with qualitative interview approach discussing current levels of accessibility and resilience in Christchurch and whether or not the interview participants believe that increased accessibility in Christchurch will make our city more resilient to future disasters. This research is important because it helps to bridge the connection between accessibility and resilience by showing how accessibility is an important aspect of making a city resilient. In Christchurch specifically, it is a great time to create an accessible and inclusive environment in the post-earthquake rebuild state the city is currently in. Showing that an accessible environment will lead to a more resilient city is important will potentially lead to accessible design being included in the rebuild of places and spaces in Christchurch. In theory, the results of this research show that having an accessible environment leads to universal inclusiveness which in turn, leads to a resilient city. An overarching theme that arose during this research is that accessibility is a means to inclusion and without inclusion a society cannot be resilient. In practice, the results show that for Christchurch to become more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities, there needs to not only be an increase the accessibility of places and spaces but accessibility to the community as well. Having accessible infrastructure and communities will lead to increased social and urban resilience, especially for individuals with disabilities. This research is beneficial because it helps to bridge the connection between accessibility and resilience. Resilience is important because it help cities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters and this research helps to show that accessibility is an important part of creating resilience. Some questions still remain unresolved mainly looking into normalising accessibility and deciphering how to prove that accessibility is an issue that effects everybody, not just individuals with disabilities.
An abandoned residential property at 10 Waygreen Avenue in New Brighton. The section is covered with weeds and silt from liquefaction. The front of the section is partly flooded.
An empty section where a house once stood at 21 Waygreen Avenue in New Brighton. The footpath is partly flooded and is overgrown with weeds and silt from liquefaction.
A photograph of 141 Cambridge Terrace taken from a vacant site on Gloucester Street. The building is under deconstruction and the windows have been removed so the inside is visible.
Lyttelton Port near Christchurch is now almost three and a half hectares larger than it was before the earthquakes - as earthquake rubble is dumped in the harbour to reclaim land.
Christchurch will lose its Rugby World Cup games with a report finding the city's stadium is unfit to host matches in the wake of last month's earthquake, British media is reporting.
Leanne Curtis is a Canterbury Communities' Earthquake Recovery Network board member and Peter Townsend is the chief executive of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce.
In Christchurch power is back on for all but a small number of customers after Monday's earthquakes, but the city council is warning it could be six months before water supplies return to normal.
He is bed maker to the dead. The pillows which he lays never rumple. The day of interment is the theatre in which he displays the mysteries of this art. Thomas Lamb 1811. Nothing in this would can be … Continue reading →
A volunteer from the Student Volunteer Army sweeping the site of a demolished building. This is where Gap Filler's "Dance-O-Mat" is to be built.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Shands Emporium, 88 Hereford Street. Shands Emporium is one of the oldest retail buildings in Christchurch, but is now very fragile".
A photograph of a wooden cross erected on an empty site in Lyttelton. The cross is numbered 24, and is part of the Crux project.
Damage to a house in Redcliffs. The chimney is still intact, but is leaning away from the house at an extreme angle, and concrete blocks have fallen from the walls.
A photograph of a residential property at 480 Avonside Drive. The fence is on an angle and has sections missing. The garden is overgrown with weeds.
A photograph of a wooden cross erected on an empty site in Lyttelton. The cross is numbered 42, and is part of the Crux project.
A photograph of a wooden cross erected on an empty site in Lyttelton. The cross is numbered 44, and is part of the Crux project.
A document illustrating elements of door to door contact, which is an initiative to help communities affected by nearby disruptive SCIRT works to understand what is happening.
A filing cabinet which is part of the Words of Hope project. It has been painted white and is resting on its side.
A photograph of a sign reading "Please slow down, your speed is shaking our homes". The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cass Street, Kaiapoi".
A photograph of damaged cliff-side garages. Written on the door of one of the garages is, "Please ph. [number] before demo". The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Redcliffs and Sumner".
A photograph of a damaged cliff-side garage. Written on the door of the garage is, "Please ph. [number] before demo". The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Redcliffs and Sumner".
An abandoned residential property at 1A Seabreeze Close in Bexley. The front of the property is overgrown and footpath is also covered with weeds and silt from liquefaction.
Today, art is my inspiration, at least as a starting point. The title of this blog post may seem whimsical, but it is both a practical description of our subject today and a reference to the art of centuries past. … Continue reading →
Still standing in Jan 2011 - but the buildings future is unknown - It is probably destined to be demolished.
A video of the keynote presentation by Alexander C. McFarlane during the third plenary of the 2016 People in Disasters Conference. McFarlane is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Adelaide and the Heady of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies. The presentation is titled, "Holding onto the Lessons Disasters Teach".The abstract for this presentation reads as follows: Disasters are sentinel points in the life of the communities affected. They bring an unusual focus to community mental health. In so doing, they provide unique opportunities for better understanding and caring for communities. However, one of the difficulties in the disaster field is that many of the lessons from previous disasters are frequently lost. If anything, Norris (in 2006) identified that the quality of disaster research had declined over the previous 25 years. What is critical is that a longitudinal perspective is taken of representative cohorts. Equally, the impact of a disaster should always be judged against the background mental health of the communities affected, including emergency service personnel. Understandably, many of those who are particularly distressed in the aftermath of a disaster are people who have previously experienced a psychiatric disorder. It is important that disaster services are framed against knowledge of this background morbidity and have a broad range of expertise to deal with the emerging symptoms. Equally, it is critical that a long-term perspective is considered rather than short-term support that attempts to ameliorate distress. Future improvement of disaster management depends upon sustaining a body of expertise dealing with the consequences of other forms of traumatic stress such as accidents. This expertise can be redirected to co-ordinate and manage the impact of larger scale events when disasters strike communities. This presentation will highlight the relevance of these issues to the disaster planning in a country such as New Zealand that is prone to earthquakes.
Topics - scientists are wondering how the light gets out. Maybe there is a cosmic crack in everything, because in the Journal Astrophysical Letters it is noted that there is a huge deficit of light in the universe. Owners of heritage apartments in Auckland face becoming "impoverished" according to a high-profile real estate figure, because of new laws around earthquake strengthening. Martin Dunn of City Sales says the Building Amendment Bill is "overkill". He says those trying to sell heritage apartments are having a difficult time because of the new rules. Jim Anderton, has again raised the issue of whether the Christchurch Cathedral has to come down.
Gender matters. And it’s complicated, which is why writing this blog post has been particularly difficult. Why is it so complicated, from an archaeological standpoint? Well, let me try and explain. Historical archaeology developed as a discipline in the mid-20th … Continue reading →
Archaeologists are often faced with the question of what happens to artefacts after an excavation is complete? As is the case for a lot of excavations, artefacts can find themselves housed in museums. This centuries old institution found its beginning … Continue reading →
A digital copy of a painting by Julia Holden. The painting is of building rubble and an excavator. In the background is the Forsyth Barr building.
A photograph of 141 Cambridge Terrace taken from a vacant site on Gloucester Street. The building is under deconstruction and the windows have been removed so that the inside is visible.