Following devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 in Christchurch, there is an opportunity to use sustainable urban design variables to redevelop the central city in order to address climate change concerns and reduce CO₂ emissions from land transport. Literature from a variety of disciplines establishes that four sustainable urban design variables; increased density, mixed-use development, street layout and city design, and the provision of sustainable public transport, can reduce car dependency and vehicle kilometres travelled within urban populations- widely regarded as indicators of the negative environmental effects of transport. The key question for the research is; to what extent has this opportunity been seized by NZ’s Central Government who are overseeing the central city redevelopment? In order to explore this question the redevelopment plans for the central city of Christchurch are evaluated against an adapted urban design matrix to determine whether a reduction in CO₂ emissions from land transport is likely to be achieved through their implementation. Data obtained through interviews with experts is used to further explore the extent to which sustainable urban design variables can be employed to enhance sustainability and reduce CO₂ emissions. The analysis of this data shows that the four urban design variables will feature in the Central Government’s redevelopment plans although the extent to which they are employed and their likely success in reducing CO₂ emissions will vary. Ultimately, the opportunity to redevelop the central city of Christchurch to reduce CO₂ emissions from land transport will be undermined due to timeframe, co-ordination, and leadership barriers.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of a large sign at Agropolis that is part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of a large sign at Agropolis that is part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of people walking past two large signs that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Manchester and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Manchester and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of two large signs at Agropolis that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of a large sign at The Commons that is part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on the corner of Colombo and Hereford Streets that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of two large signs at Cathedral Junction that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on High Street that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of signs on High Street that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of a large sign at The Commons that is part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
A photograph of two large signs at Re:START Mall that are part of Signs of Things to Come. This was a wayfinding project by Generation Zero and Diadem, for FESTA 2014. The signage gives directions to key central city and FESTA locations, and compares the current and future potential of transport in Christchurch.
Volunteers preparing trees to be transported to the site of the Pallet Pavilion.
Volunteers preparing trees to be transported to the site of the Pallet Pavilion.
Volunteers preparing trees to be transported to the site of the Pallet Pavilion.
Graphs showing the results of an opinion poll on rebuild priorities.
The seating area in a bus at the temporary bus exchange on Hagley Avenue, set up after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
The temporary bus exchange on Hagley Avenue, set up after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
As the future of the world’s oil reserves becomes progressively more uncertain, it is becoming increasingly important that steps are taken to ensure that there are viable, attractive alternatives to travel by private motor vehicle. As with many of New Zealand’s major urban centres, Christchurch is still exceptionally reliant on private motor vehicles; although a significant proportion of the population indicate that they would like to cycle more, cycling is still an underutilised mode of transport. Following a series of fatal earthquakes that struck the city in 2010 and 2011, there has been the need to significantly redevelop much of the city’s horizontal infrastructure – subsequently providing the perfect platform for significant changes to be made to the road network. Many of the key planning frameworks governing the rebuild process have identified the need to improve Christchurch’s cycling facilities in order to boost cycling numbers and cyclist safety. The importance of considering future growth and travel patterns when planning for transport infrastructure has been highlighted extensively throughout literature. Accordingly, this study sought to identify areas where future cycle infrastructure development would be advantageous based on a number of population and employment projections, and likely future travel patterns throughout the city. Through the use of extensive GIS analysis, future population growth, employment and travel patterns for Christchurch city were examined in order to attain an understanding of where the current proposed major cycleways network could be improved, or extended. A range of data and network analysis were used to derive likely travel patterns throughout Christchurch in 2041. Trips were derived twice, once with a focus on simply finding the shortest route between each origin and destination, and then again with a focus on cyclist safety and areas where cyclists were unlikely to travel. It was found that although the proposed major cycleways network represents a significant step towards improving the cycling environment in Christchurch, there are areas of the city that will not be well serviced by the current proposed network in 2041. These include a number of key residential growth areas such as Halswell, Belfast and Prestons, along with a number of noteworthy key travel zones, particularly in areas close to the central city and key employment areas. Using network analysis, areas where improvements or extensions to the proposed network would be most beneficial were identified, and a number of potential extensions in a variety of areas throughout the city were added to the network of cycle ways. Although it has been found that filling small gaps in the network can have considerable positive outcomes, results from the prioritisation analysis suggested that initially in Christchurch demand is likely to be for more substantial extensions to the proposed major cycleways network.
The transport agency says its earthquake strengthening of bridges has repaid itself in Canterbury after September's quake.
A story submitted by Rachel Hall to the QuakeStories website.