This report to RCP Ltd and University of Canterbury summarises the findings of a 5 month secondment to the CERA Port Hills Land Clearance Team. Improvement strategies were initiated and observed. The Port Hills Land Clearance Programme is the undertaking of the demolition of all built structures from the Crown’s compulsory acquired 714 residential red zoned properties. These properties are zoned red due to an elevated life risk as a result of geotechnical land uncertainty following the 2011 Canterbury Earthquakes.
A video of a tour through the Christchurch central city Red Zone. The video includes footage of Armagh Street, Madras Street, Latimer Square, St John's Anglican Church, Hereford Street, the Octagon Live restaurant, the Design and Arts building, the High Street mall, and the Grand Chancellor Hotel. It also includes footage of construction workers cutting up metal beams, and clearing rubble from a building on Manchester Street.
Awaiting demolition. Blue pipes are water supply to anyone still living on Hulverstone Drive.
During 2010 and 2011, a series of major earthquakes caused widespread damage in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The magnitude 6.3 quake in February 2011 caused 185 fatalities. In the ensuing months, the government progressively zoned residential land in Christchurch on the basis of its suitability for future occupation (considering damage from these quakes and future earthquake risk). Over 6,000 homes were placed in the ‘red-zone’, meaning that property owners were forced to sell their land to the Crown. This study analysed patterns of residential mobility amongst thirty-one red-zone households from the suburb of Southshore, Christchurch. Drawing on interviews and surveys, the research traced their experience from the zoning announcement until they had moved to a new residence. The research distinguished between short (before the zoning announcement) and long term (post the red zone ‘deadline’) forms of household relocation. The majority of households in the study were highly resistant to short term movement. Amongst those which did relocate before the zoning decision, the desire to maintain a valued social connection with a person outside of the earthquake environment was often an important factor. Some households also moved out of perceived necessity (e.g. due to lack of power or water). In terms of long-term relocation, concepts of affordability and safety were much more highly valued by the sample when purchasing post-quake property. This resulted in a distinct patterning of post-quake housing location choices. Perceived control over the moving process, relationship with government organisations and insurance companies, and time spent in the red-zone before moving all heavily influenced participants’ disaster experience. Contrary to previous studies, households in this study recorded higher levels of subjective well-being after relocating. The study proposed a typology of movers in the Christchurch post-disaster environment. Four mobility behaviours, or types, are identified: the Committed Stayers (CSs), the Environment Re-Creators (ERCs), the Resigned Acceptors (RAs), and the Opportunistic Movers (OMs). The CSs were defined by their immobility rather than their relocation aspirations, whilst the ERCs attempted to recreate or retain aspects of Southshore through their mobility. The RAs expressed a form of apathy towards the post-quake environment, whereas, on the other hand, the OMs moved relative to pre-earthquake plans, or opportunities that arose from the earthquake itself. Possibilities for further research include examining household adaptability to new residential environments and tracking further mobility patterns in the years following relocation from the red- zone.
Public bus tours of Christchurch's red zone will start off with a warning that the passengers could be trapped by an earthquake and may not make it out alive.
A photograph of an excavator demolishing Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 11 April 2011 entitled, "Day 49 - last day behind the cordon".
A photograph of the house at 58 Bangor Street. A green sticker on the door indicates that it has been inspected and is safe to enter.
A photograph of the house at 58 Bangor Street. A green sticker on the door indicates that it has been inspected and is safe to enter.
A photograph of a block of apartments at 2 Rees Street. The numbers of the apartments have been spray-painted on the walls in front.
Liquefaction silt in Bexley. The photographer comments, "This is not really a worm but a sliver of liquefaction that has fallen out of a tyre tread".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Red Cross workers from Blenheim prepare to leave for Christchurch earthquake zone. (L to R) Team leader Ben McKinnon, Ray Waters, and Brad Hewer".
20130808_2288_1D3-40 Awaiting demoloition Two relatively new town houses in the Bexley "Red Zone". Awaiting demolition due to severe land problems. Have been vandalised. #4073
An impressive Cabbage Tree (Cordyline australis) that was in someone's back yard prior to the demolition of houses post the 2011 earthquake.
A Phoenis Palm (Phoenix canariensis) that was in someone's back yard prior to the demolition of houses post the 2011 earthquake.
About the Network (AvON) and its plans to create a park and reserve in the Christchurch red zone around the Avon River. Includes resources and information about its projects.
A red-zone house just a few down the road from where we used to live in Velsheda Street, with bricks (brick veneer?) off and lifted prior to transporting away.
The city cordon on Colombo Street. People are looking into the City red zone from the street cordon. Inside the cordon is a row of damaged buildings the upper storeys have partially collapsed..
A photograph of the overgrown garden of Siobhan Murphy's house at 436 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "That empty clothesline reflects the emptiness of the house and surrounding properties".
Aspects of Christchurch life after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, modelled on acts performed at the Buskers' Festival being held in Christchurch. Include `Silt walking'through liquefaction; 'Orange zone', representing the paralysis of homeowners whose properties were classified as 'orange', or of undecided status; 'Jugglers "Marryatt" and "Red Zone"': the Christchurch CEO, Tony Marryatt, juggles with money, his large pay rise, while the red-zoned householder juggles with unattractive options; 'The boy [CBD] with red tape all over him', referring to the cordon which was strangling the Central Business District; the columnist Joe Bennett with his dog, refusing to move from his house in Lyttelton, a cause celebre of resistance to the earthquake authorities in those days. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A photograph of the house number spray-painted on one of the windows of 468 Oxford Terrace.
A video of a tour of the inside of the Press building in Cathedral Square which was severely damaged by the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a blossoming tree and letterbox at 450 Oxford Terrace. In the background is the house at the same address.
A photograph of the house at 390 Oxford Terrace. Grass and other weeds have grown up through the cracks between the pavers in front.
A photograph of the house at 396 Oxford Terrace. The hedges at the front have begun to overgrow. Plastic sheeting is lying over the path.
A video about the reopening of Calendar Girls on Hereford Street. The video includes a tour of the strip club and an interview with Director Jacqui Le Prou. Le Prou talks about her frustration at not being able to access the building for more than a year after the 22 February 2011 earthquake, despite it receiving very little damage.
A photograph taken inside the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".
A photograph looking inside the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".
A photograph of the Locke family's partially-deconstructed house at 392 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".
A photograph of a shipping container on the footpath outside 392 Oxford Terrace. The photographer comments, "The house was deconstructed over three weeks. The materials were then stored in the shipping container until the house was reconstructed at a new site".