We examined changes in psychological distress experienced by residents of Christchurch following two catastrophic earthquakes in late 2010 and early 2011, using data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS), a national probability panel study of New Zealand adults. Analyses focused on the 267 participants (172 women, 95 men) who were living in central Christchurch in 2009 (i.e., before the Christchurch earthquakes), and who also provided complete responses to our yearly panel questionnaire conducted in late 2010 (largely between the two major earthquakes), late 2011, and late 2012. Levels of psychological distress were similar across the different regions of central Christchurch immediately following the September 2010 earthquake, and remained comparable across regions in 2011. By late 2012, however, average levels of psychological distress in the regions had diverged as a function of the amount of property damage experienced within each given region. Specifically, participants in the least damaged region (i.e., the Fendalton-Waimairi and Riccarton-Wigram wards) experienced greater drops in psychological distress than did those in the moderately damaged region (i.e., across the Spreydon-Heathcote and Hagley- Ferrymead wards). However, the level of psychological distress reported by participants in the most damaged region (i.e., across Shirley-Papanui and Burwood-Pegasus) were not significantly different to those in the least damaged region of central Christchurch. These findings suggest that different patterns of psychological recovery emerged across the different regions of Christchurch, with the moderately damaged region faring the worst, but only after the initial shock of the destruction had passed.
In recent work on commons and commoning, scholars have argued that we might delink the practice of commoning from property ownership, while paying attention to modes of governance that enable long-term commons to emerge and be sustained. Yet commoning can also occur as a temporary practice, in between and around other forms of use. In this article we reflect on the transitional commoning practices and projects enabled by the Christchurch post-earthquake organisation Life in Vacant Spaces, which emerged to connect and mediate between landowners of vacant inner city demolition sites and temporary creative or entrepreneurial users. While these commons are often framed as transitional or temporary, we argue they have ongoing reverberations changing how people and local government in Christchurch approach common use. Using the cases of the physical space of the Victoria Street site “The Commons” and the virtual space of the Life in Vacant Spaces website, we show how temporary commoning projects can create and sustain the conditions of possibility required for nurturing commoner subjectivities. Thus despite their impermanence, temporary commoning projects provide a useful counter to more dominant forms of urban development and planning premised on property ownership and “permanent” timeframes, in that just as the physical space of the city being opened to commoning possibilities, so too are the expectations and dispositions of the city’s inhabitants, planners, and developers.
Website of Canterbury CDEM Group, which is a partnership of local authorities, emergency services and other organisations tasked with providing effective and comprehensive management of major hazards and their consequences anywhere in Canterbury. Includes community preparedness information, information for emergency managers and CDEM Group plan.
A photograph of equipment from the New Zealand Fire Service Urban Search and Rescue team on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The equipment was used during the emergency response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Tom McBrearty (second from left) along with the dean of the Christ Church Cathedral Reverend Peter Beck (left), and residents Leanne Curtis and Evan Smith right) have formed a grass roots community group for earthquake-hit suburbs".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Children in Diamond Harbour and Purau who decided to try and cheer up all the sick and elderly in the community after the quake by taking them bunches of daffodils. Liam Schmidlin-Wilson who came up with the idea".
A PDF copy of pages 348-349 of the book Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV. The pages document the transitional project 'Thinking Outside the Square'. Photos: Gap Filler
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Tom McBrearty (second from left) along with the dean of the Christ Church Cathedral Reverend Peter Beck (left), and residents Leanne Curtis and Evan Smith right) have formed a grass roots community group for earthquake-hit suburbs".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Tom McBrearty (second from left) along with the dean of the Christ Church Cathedral Reverend Peter Beck (left), and residents Leanne Curtis and Evan Smith right) have formed a grass roots community group for earthquake-hit suburbs".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Tom McBrearty (second from left) along with the dean of the Christ Church Cathedral Reverend Peter Beck (left), and residents Leanne Curtis and Evan Smith right) have formed a grass roots community group for earthquake-hit suburbs".
Provincial towns and rural communities around the country say they will be financially ruined under proposals to strengthen buildings following the Christchurch earthquakes. Dale Williams is Mayor of Otorohanga, Dave Cull is Mayor of Dunedin and Lawrence Yule is Mayor of Hastings and president of Local Government NZ.
Earthquake bus survivor, Mike Ardagh - Christchurch Hospital, Reporter Erina O'Donohue live from Christchurch, Where to obtain water, Murray McCully thanks international community, Cowles Stadium welfare centre closed, Man escapes from 12th floor of Forsyth Barr building, Aussie medics set up field hospital, Schools need significant rebuilding and Fourteen supermarkets closed in Christchurch.
A photograph of the former site of Doug Sexton's house at 378 Oxford Terrace. Sexton's house was demolished after his land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow in the site.
A photograph of the house at 424 Oxford Terrace. The glass and casings of the windows have been removed. Wire fencing has been placed across the front of the property as a cordon.
A photograph of the house at 468 Oxford Terrace. The grass has been mowed but the dead grass has not been removed. The house number has been spray-painted on one of the windows.
A photograph of the house at 466 Oxford Terrace. The house number has been spray-painted on one of the windows. Wire fencing has been placed across the front of the property as a cordon.
A photograph of the house at 468 Oxford Terrace. The grass has been mowed but the dead grass has not been removed. The house number has been spray-painted on one of the windows.
A photograph of a painting in Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. The painting depicts heritage buildings which were demolished in Christchurch, as well as the year or era in which they were built.
A photograph of a room in Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. The fireplace has been removed and boarded up with gib board. A lampshade has been placed in the corner.
A photograph of the lounge in Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace. A bed has been placed in the middle of the room. Graffiti on the walls reads, "CHCH recovery, a national disgrace".
A photograph of the former site of the houses at 422, 424, and 426 Oxford Terrace. The houses were demolished after the land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow over the sites.
A transcript of Bruce Morriss's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 9 November 2012. Morriss is the South Island Regional Manager for Tearfund NZ.
A photograph of the former site of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. Duff's house was demolished after his land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow on the site.
A photograph of the former site of the Locke family's house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed and rebuilt on another site". Grass has grown over the site.
A photograph looking through the door of the front room in Donna Allfrey's house at 406 Oxford Terrace to the lounge and kitchen. A bed has been placed in the middle of the lounge.
A photograph of the former site of Doug Sexton's house at 378 Oxford Terrace. Sexton's house was demolished after his land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow in the site.
A photograph of the former site of Doug Sexton's house at 378 Oxford Terrace. Sexton's house was demolished after his land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow in the site.
A photograph of the former site of the Locke family's house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed and rebuilt on another site". Grass has grown over the site.
A photograph of the former site of Robin Duff's house at 386 Oxford Terrace. Duff's house was demolished after his land was zoned Red. Grass has begun to grow on the site.
An audio recording of Bruce Morriss's interview for the Church in the Quakes Project. The interview was conducted by Melissa Parsons on 9 November 2012. Morriss is the South Island Regional Manager for Tearfund NZ.