A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Victoria Square, the Forsyth Barr building, Colombo Street, Gloucester Street, Cathedral Square, the BNZ building, Cashel Mall, and the Kathmandu store on High Street.
A video of journalist Charlie Gates introducing the 2014 World Buskers Festival. Gates visits former festival venues in the Christchurch central city and the new performance venues for the 2014 festival, to show how the city has changed since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
An aerial photograph of Bangor Street in central Christchurch. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Avon Loop. Some of this is zoned green and the land to the right of Bangor Street is zoned orange (plus the piece above Willow Street)".
This is the Summit Road below Mt Cavendish and shows a few remaining high buildings in the central city beyond (in setting sun). Just above centre is the doomed AMI Stadium (1) aka Lancaster Park, home to Canterbury cricket and rugby till the erathquakes.
A video of an address by David Ayers, Mayor of Waimakariri District, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Breakfast Presentations section, the theme of which was Building Momentum.
A video of an address by Ian Simpson, CEO of the NZ Earthquake Commission, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Breakfast Presentations section, the theme of which was Building Momentum.
A video of an address by Roger Sutton, CEO of Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Breakfast Presentations section, the theme of which was Building Momentum.
A video of an address by Lianne Dalziel, Mayor of Christchurch, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Breakfast Presentations section, the theme of which was Building Momentum.
A video of an address by Peter Townsend, CEO of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Breakfast Presentations section, the theme of which was Building Momentum.
A video of an address by Joanna Norris, Editor of The Press, at the 2014 Seismics and the City forum. This talk was part of the Breakfast Presentations section, the theme of which was Building Momentum.
Creative temporary or transitional use of vacant urban open spaces is seldom foreseen in traditional urban planning and has historically been linked to economic or political disturbances. Christchurch, like most cities, has had a relatively small stock of vacant spaces throughout much of its history. This changed dramatically after an earthquake and several damaging aftershocks hit the city in 2010 and 2011; temporary uses emerged on post-earthquake sites that ran parallel to the “official” rebuild discourse and programmes of action. The paper examines a post-earthquake transitional community-initiated open space (CIOS) in central Christchurch. CIOS have been established by local community groups as bottom-up initiatives relying on financial sponsorship, agreements with local landowners who leave their land for temporary projects until they are ready to redevelop, and volunteers who build and maintain the spaces. The paper discusses bottom-up governance approaches in depth in a single temporary post-earthquake community garden project using the concepts of community resilience and social capital. The study analyses and highlights the evolution and actions of the facilitating community organisation (Greening the Rubble) and the impact of this on the project. It discusses key actors’ motivations and values, perceived benefits and challenges, and their current involvement with the garden. The paper concludes with observations and recommendations about the initiation of such projects and the challenges for those wishing to study ephemeral social recovery phenomena.
The increase in urban population has required cities to rethink their strategies for minimising greenhouse gas impacts and adapting to climate change. While urban design and planning policy have been guided by principles such as walkability (to reduce the dependence on cars) and green infrastructure (to enhance the quality of open spaces to support conservation and human values), there have been conflicting views on what spatial strategies will best prepare cities for a challenging future. Researchers supporting compact cities based upon public Transit Oriented Development have claimed that walkability, higher density and mixed-uses make cities more sustainable (Owen, 2009) and that, while green spaces in cities are necessary, they are dull in comparison with shopfronts and street vendors (Speck, 2012, p 250). Other researchers claim that green infrastructure is fundamental to improving urban sustainability and attracting public space users with improved urban comfort, consequently encouraging walkability (Pitman and Ely, 2013). Landscape architects tend to assume that ‘the greener the better’; however, the efficiency of urban greenery in relation to urban comfort and urbanity depends on its density, distribution and the services provided. Green infrastructure can take many forms (from urban forests to street trees) and provide varied services (amended microclimate, aesthetics, ecology and so forth). In this paper, we evaluate the relevance of current policy in Christchurch regarding both best practice in green infrastructure and urban comfort (Tavares, 2015). We focus on the Christchurch Blueprint for rebuilding the central city, and critically examine the post-earthquake paths the city is following regarding its green and grey infrastructures and the resulting urban environment. We discuss the performance and appropriateness of the current Blueprint in post-earthquake Christchurch, particularly as it relates to the challenges that climate change is creating for cities worldwide.
A video of Lianne Dalziel speaking to a public gathering about her reasons for standing for the mayoralty of Christchurch. Dalziel talks about starting her mayoralty where Share an Idea left off, making the Council a high performing team, and getting the community involved in the decisions about the future of the city. The video also includes footage of Dalziel taking a tour of the Christchurch central city. Dalziel visits the ChristChurch Cathedral, pointing out a sign which reads, "The earthquakes stopped us, but inept procedures are killing us". She also visits the new Westende Jewellers building, which she notes was the first rebuild in the Christchurch central city but will come down as part of CERA's Transport Plan. Dalziel is shown socialising with members of the public and watching the Christchurch Wizard bless New Regent Street.
A video of Rachel Young describing the changes that will be made to streets in the Christchurch central city, under the Accessible Transport Plan. The video includes time-lapse footage of a car driving down Durham Street, Tuam Street, Kilmore Street, Salisbury Street, and Rolleston Avenue. Young explains that Tuam Street will become a west-to-east one-way street, that a new bus exchange will be built on the block bordered by Tuam, Colombo, Manchester, and Lichfield Streets, that a super stop will be added at the hospital and on Manchester Street, and that Kilmore and Salisbury Streets will be turned into two-way streets. She also explains that the speed limit will be dropped to 30 km/h in the area bordered by Rolleston Avenue, St Asaph Street, Madras Street, and Kilmore Street.
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Victoria Square is at the centre of this picture with its green lawns and trees. The bare patch of earth in front s the demolition sites of the Allan McLean building, the Oxford on Avon, and Plunket House. The contract to demolish the Crowne Plaza Hotel has been let, while the fate of the Town Hall is still undecided. The Convention Centre is coming down. On the very bottom, slightly to the right is the Medlab building which is also to be demolished. In the bottom left corner is the PWC building which is also to be demolished".
Site is a contemporary art/architecture/media proposal for inner-city living in Christchurch. Originated prior to the 4 Sept. 2010 earthquake, in response to a Christchurch City Council plan to increase the number of central city residents. Includes a video file and blog, including archive.
The Christchurch City Council's plans to to help curb a rising homeless population has left some people who live rough worried. The council is considering funding the Christchurch City Mission to employ outreach workers for the first time since the Canterbury earthquakes, and police are increasing central city patrols. Christchurch reporter Logan Church has the story.
Male mammals don't stay monogamous to produce fitter offspring, instead they do it for love and to protect their partner; Edward Snowden granted temporary asylum in Russia; Parking companies in central Wellington increase fees after earthquakes; and tours of Christchurch's Red Zone started this week.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The street signs and way-marking board place this scene at the intersection of Manchester, High and Lichfield Streets, even if you struggle to find other landmarks that place it there".
A photograph of the entrance to Gap Filler's temporary outdoor cinema on the corner of Madras and St Asaph Streets. The entranceway is made of lights on a steel frame, and leads to a painted "red carpet".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This building labelled Poplar Crescent was one of a group of buildings paid for by Thomas Edmonds and was initially used to store band instruments when the Edmonds Rotunda was used for band concerts. Cambridge Terrace".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Looking from Gloucester Street across the demolition site of the Coachman and Canterbury Times (Christchurch Star?) buildings with Heritage Hotel on the left and Novotel in the centre".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Looking from Gloucester Street across the demolition site of the Coachman and Canterbury Times (Christchurch Star?) buildings with Heritage Hotel on the left and Novotel in the centre".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "View from Cashel Mall looking over the Whitcoulls site and the demolition of Wendy's in Hereford Street to the back of the ANZ bank in Cathedral Square".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Looking south along Tramway Lane and Tattersalls Lane with the Hotel Grand Chancellor at the end (note the concrete truck delivering concrete being pumped into the ground floor of the hotel)".
A photograph taken from the top of the BNZ building. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The MFL Building has reached a very ugly stage of demolition. It is the last building standing on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo Streets".
A photograph taken from the top of the BNZ building. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A group of people on top of the Millennium Hotel with the Pacific tower to the left of the photo".
A photograph of 'We Won't Need Legs to Stand', an installation by Sam Eng. The installation was displayed in the window of the COCA gallery when the remainder of the building was yellow-stickered.
A photograph of an installation on the corner of Manchester Street and Gloucester Street. The installation is titled "60 Lights Market", and is part of the LUXCITY event.
A PDF copy of pages 52-53 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'The Gap Filler Summer Pallet Pavilion'. Render: Yun Kong Sung