The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes of Canterbury have had a serious and ongoing effect on Maori in the city (Lambert, Mark-Shadbolt, Ataria, & Black, 2012). Many people had to rely on themselves, their neighbours and their whanau for an extended period in 2011, and some are still required to organise and coordinate various activities such as schooling, health care, work and community activities such as church, sports and recreation in a city beset by ongoing disruption and distress. Throughout the phases of response and recovery, issues of leadership have been implicitly and explicitly woven through both formal and informal investigations and debates. This paper presents the results of a small sample of initial interviews of Maori undertaken in the response and early recovery period of the disaster and discusses some of the implications for Maori urban communities.
The scale of damage from a series of earthquakes across Christchurch Otautahi in 2010 and 2011 challenged all networks in the city at a time when many individuals and communities were under severe economic pressure. Historically, Maori have drawn on traditional institutions such as whanau, marae, hapu and iwi in their endurance of past crises. This paper presents research in progress to describe how these Maori-centric networks supported both Maori and non-Maori through massive urban dislocation. Resilience to any disaster can be explained by configurations of economic, social and cultural factors. Knowing what has contributed to Maori resilience is fundamental to the strategic enhancement of future urban communities - Maori and non-Maori.
The 2010 and 2011 earthquakes have had a devastating impact on the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The level of destruction has been especially evident in the central business district where it has been estimated over 1000 buildings have already been or will eventually require demolition. Although, contrary to expectations, most of the fatalities were in relatively modern buildings, the Victorian and Edwardian era building stock was especially hard hit in terms of property damage. Unfortunately this era and style of building were also the focus of the most successful inner city revitalisation projects to date. A major research project is now underway examining the impact on the earthquakes on one of these revitalisation areas. The first step is to examine the international literature on similar inner city revitalisation or gentrification areas and in particular the characteristics of owners and occupiers attracted to this type of environment. This is the focus of this paper.
With the recent innovation and development within Christchurch following the earthquakes there have been suggestions of developing an ethnic precinct or 'Chinatown' within the city. This article explores the possibility of this and its potential benefits.
Though there is a broad consensus that communities play a key role in disaster response and recovery, most of the existing work in this area focuses on the activities of donor agencies, formal civil defence authorities, and local/central government. Consequently, there is a paucity of research addressing the on-going actions and activities undertaken by communities and ‘emergent groups’ , particularly as they develop after the immediate civil defence or ‘response’ phase is over. In an attempt to address this gap, this inventory of community-led recovery initiatives was undertaken approximately one year after the most devastating February 2011 earthquake. It is part of on-going project at Lincoln University documenting – and seeking a better understanding of - various emergent communities’ roles in recovery, their challenges, and strategies for overcoming them. This larger project also seeks to better understand how collaborative work between informal and formal recovery efforts might be facilitated at different stages of the process. This inventory was conducted over the December 2011 – February 2012 period and builds on Landcare Research’s Christchurch Earthquake Activity Inventory which was a similar snapshot taken in April 2011. The intention behind conducting this updated inventory is to gain a longitudinal perspective of how community-led recovery activities evolve over time. Each entry is ordered alphabetically and contact details have been provided where possible. A series of keywords have also been assigned that describe the main attributes of each activity to assist searches within this document.This inventory was supported by the Lincoln University Research Fund and the Royal Society Marsden Fund.
The recent Christchurch earthquakes provide a unique opportunity to better understand the relationship between pre-disaster social fault-lines and post-disaster community fracture. As a resident of Christchurch, this paper presents some of my reflections on the social structures and systems, activities, attitudes and decisions that have helped different Canterbury ‘communities’ along their road to recovery, and highlights some issues that have, unfortunately, held us back. These reflections help answer the most crucial question asked of disaster scholarship: what can recovery agencies (including local authorities) do - both before and after disaster - to promote resilience and facilitate recovery. This paper – based on three different definitions of resilience - presents a thematic account of the social recovery landscape. I argue that ‘coping’ might best be associated with adaptive capacity, however ‘thriving’ or ‘bounce forward’ versions of resilience are a function of a community’s participative capacity.
Disasters are a critical topic for practitioners of landscape architecture. A fundamental role of the profession is disaster prevention or mitigation through practitioners having a thorough understanding of known threats. Once we reach the ‘other side’ of a disaster – the aftermath – landscape architecture plays a central response in dealing with its consequences, rebuilding of settlements and infrastructure and gaining an enhanced understanding of the causes of any failures. Landscape architecture must respond not only to the physical dimensions of disaster landscapes but also to the social, psychological and spiritual aspects. Landscape’s experiential potency is heightened in disasters in ways that may challenge and extend the spectrum of emotions. Identity is rooted in landscape, and massive transformation through the impact of a disaster can lead to ongoing psychological devastation. Memory and landscape are tightly intertwined as part of individual and collective identities, as connections to place and time. The ruptures caused by disasters present a challenge to remembering the lives lost and the prior condition of the landscape, the intimate attachments to places now gone and even the event itself.
There is strong consensus in the civil defence and emergency management literature that public participation is essential for a 'good' recovery. However, there is a paucity of research detailing how this community-led planning should be carried out in the real world. There are few processes or timelines for communities to follow when wanting to plan for themselves, nor is there a great deal of advice for communities who want to plan for their own recovery. In short, despite this consensus that community involvement is desireable, there is very little information available as to the nature of this involvement or how communities might facilitate this. It is simply assumed that communities are willing and able to participate in the recovery process and that recovery authorities will welcome, encourage, and enable this participation. This is not always the case, and the result is that community groups can be left feeling lost and ineffective when trying to plan for their own recovery. In attempting to address this gap, my study contributes to a better understanding of community involvement in recovery planning, based on research with on particular a community group (SPRIG), who has undertaken their own form of community-led planning in a post-disaster environment. Through group observations and in-depth interviews with members of SPRIG, I was able to identify various roles for such groups in the post-disaster recovery process. My research also contributes to an enhanced understanding of the process a community group might follow to implement their own form of post-disaster recovery planning, with the main point being that any planning should be done side by side with local authorities. Finally, I discovered that a community group will face organisational, community and institutional challenges when trying to plan for their area; however, despite these challenges, opportunities exist, such as the chance to build a better future.
The scale of damage from a series of earthquakes across Christchurch Otautahi in 2010 and 2011 challenged all networks in the city at a time when many individuals and communities were under severe economic pressure. Historically, Maori have drawn on traditional institutions such as whanau, marae, hapu and iwi in their endurance of past crises. This paper presents research in progress to describe how these Maori-centric networks supported both Maori and non-Maori through massive urban dislocation. Resilience to any disaster can be explained by configurations of economic, social and cultural factors. Knowing what has contributed to Maori resilience is fundamental to the strategic enhancement of future urban communities - Maori and non-Maori.
A man labeled `rate payers' lifts an elephant labeled `convention centre' high over his head. Refers to recent calls for tenders from groups to build a new convention centre in Christchurch. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A silt castle has been built by Christchurch East that wins the competition. Context: The eastern suburbs have had a lot of problems with liquefaction following earthquakes and aftershocks. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Refers to the Christchurch manufacturer of Sanitarium marmite that has been forced to close down because of earthquake damage. There is a national shortage which is causing much grief. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A red and black flag - Canterbury colours - showing silhouettes of the 185 people who died in the Christchurch earthquake of February 22nd 2011. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows a aerial representation of Christchurch's eastern suburbs with the course of the Avon River. The new river course spells the word 'munted'. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Offers new lyrics to familiar Christmas carols based on current events in Christchurch, New Zealand. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Someone is writing and suddenly the pen runs across the paper. He asks 'Did you feel that?' Refers to continuing aftershocks in Christchurch. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows a huge glass bell representing a 'Cone of silence' over the City Council. Context: Refers to ructions in the City Council. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows as asterisks, stars etc a list of curses and swear words used to describe the EQC, delays, Roger Sutton, Gerry Brownlee and insurance companies. Context: The words describe the frustration and stress being experienced by many people in Canterbury post earthquake. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows two visitors to Christchurch who can enjoy the excitement of the danger of earthquakes without car bombings. Context: refers to the Christchurch earthquakes and continuing aftershocks. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A contractor with a roller stands in an enormous hole, and shouts up to a family standing at the top that it's now ready to be built on. Refers to efforts to compact soil in Christchurch to prevent further liquefaction following the Canterbury earthquakes. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Inside the Christchurch City Council building someone wonders what that noise is. Outside a gigantic wave of 'public discontent' rushes towards them. Context: Relates to anger and a protest of 4000 people at what they see as poor performance by the City Council in dealing with earthquake issues. The final straw was the Council's decision on the advice of its consultants to award the Council Chief Executive Tony Marryatt a $68,000 14% pay rise mid December 2011. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows three new houses sinking into liquefaction after another series of strong aftershocks in early January. A sign reads 'Parklands' and an observer confidently asserts that it is safe to rebuild. Context: the suburb of Parklands in north east Christchurch has been badly damaged by liquifaction. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
The cartoon shows a man, a woman and a dog all yelling with fright. Refers to the series of severe aftershocks that again rocked Christchurch on January 2nd. The largest was a magnitude-5.5 shake shortly before 6am. All were centred at sea off New Brighton. Mayor Bob Parker said that fear that larger quakes could be triggered had been raised by residents, but the tsunami threat was "highly unlikely". Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A plane flies into the distance. Attached to it by a rope is a large package containing Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and CEO of the City Council Tony Marryatt. The package is addressed 'Deepest Siberia c/- isolated hellhole Russia'. The mayor looks on the bright side considering this to be a junket the people will approve of. Context: Public disapproval of the Mayor's two-week tour of Asian countries with a Christchurch International Airport-led delegation. The airport is paying for the mayoral couple to take part in the trip. There is public criticism that the trip take place at this time because of ongoing problems with the council and earthquake recovery. There is also criticism of Tony Marryatt's $68,000 pay increase considered poor form when so many people are struggling with earthquake related problems. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Refers to the reopening of the Christchurch strip club 'Calendar Girls' after more than a year inside the central-city cordon. The building suffered minimal damage but was inaccessible because damage to neighbouring buildings meant the road (Hereford Street) were closed. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Prime Minister John Key tells the Minister for Earthquake recovery, Gerry Brownlee, to 'fill it in before it climbs back out!' Gerry Brownlee is sweeping rubble into a deep pit. The rubble represents many of the problems that New Zealand faces like Pike River, earthquakes, the Rena, child abuse, Winston Peters, gas pipeline damage and so on. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
At a time when the public needs an excellent service from their city council because of earthquake problems an independent government representative has been appointed to help get the dysfunctional [Christchurch] council back on track. Includes the news that chief executive Tony Marryatt has announced he has turned down a controversial $68,000 pay rise. Problems in the council have been apparent for several months, and in the last week there have been calls for the councillors to be sacked and replaced by commissioners. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Scientists stand before a model that will predict earthquakes. The model is a large arm attached to wires and switches with a thumb that flicks coins '"Heads" we have big quake at five-o-clock... "tails" we don't'. Context: short term predictions (hours to days) are in general unlikely to be possible, at present. Relates to the Christchurch earthquakes which experts have said could go on for years. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows a happy crowd playing in the sea and sand in the Christchurch Square. Bishop Victoria Matthews is seen balancing on the Wizard of Christchurch who has turned himself into a surfboard. Context: refers to a proposal by Bishop of Christchurch Victoria Matthews that the earthquake-damaged Square could be made "welcoming and engaging" again by transforming it into an artificial beach with large movie screens. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Shows flowers at the Ellerslie Flowershow that represent various politicians. They are (from left) Mayor Bob Parker, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) chief executive Roger Sutton, Gerry Brownlee Minister of Earthquake recovery, Tony Marryatt, the Christchurch council chief executive, former Nelson mayor Kerry Marshall appointed Crown observer to oversee city council issues, Christchurch City Councillor Aaron Keown, and Deputy Mayor Ngaire Button. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).