The door of Knox Presbyterian Church on Bealey Avenue. A red sticker has been taped to the door, indicating that the building is unsafe to enter. USAR codes have also been spray painted below.
After the Christchurch earthquakes, the government declared about 8000 houses as Red Zoned, prohibiting further developments in these properties, and offering the owners to buy them out. The government provided two options for owners: the first was full payment for both land and dwelling at the 2007 property evaluation, the second was payment for land, and the rest to be paid by the owner’s insurance. Most people chose the second option. Using data from LINZ combined with data from StatNZ, this project empirically investigates what led people to choose this second option, and what were the implications of these choices for the owners’ wealth and income.
The Canterbury region of New Zealand experienced a sequence of strong earthquakes during 2010-2011. Responses included government acquisition of many thousands of residential properties in the city of Christchurch in areas with severe earthquake effects. A large and contiguous tract of this ‘red zoned’ land lies in close proximity to the Ōtākaro / Avon River and is known as the Avon-Ōtākaro Red Zone (AORZ). The focus of this study was to provide an overview of the floodplain characteristics of the AORZ and review of international experience in ecological restoration of similar river margin and floodplain ecosystems to extract restoration principles and associated learnings. Compared to pre-earthquake ground levels, the dominant trend in the AORZ is subsidence, together with lateral movement especially in the vicinity of waterway. An important consequence of land subsidence in the lower Ōtākaro / Avon River is greater exposure to flooding and the effects of sea level rise. Scenario modelling for sea level rise indicates that much of the AORZ is exposed to inundation within a 100 year planning horizon based on a 1 m sea level rise. As with decisions on built infrastructure, investments in nature-based ‘green infrastructure’ also require a sound business case including attention to risks posed by climate change. Future-proofing of the expected benefits of ecological restoration must therefore be secured by design. Understanding and managing the hydrology and floodplain dynamics are vital to the future of the AORZ. However, these characteristics are shared by other floodplain and river restoration projects worldwide. Identifying successful approaches provides a useful a source of useful information for floodplain planning in the AORZ. This report presents results from a comparative case study of three international examples to identify relevant principles for large-scale floodplain management at coastal lowland sites.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Latimer Square and Radio Networks House (under demolition). IRD building top left and Pacific Tower centre right".
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee holding a jackhammer on Kingsford Street in Burwood, as part of the opening of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT).
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee handling a jackhammer on Kingsford Street in Burwood, as part of the opening of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT).
Earthquake Minister, Gerry Brownlee, speaking to Reverend Peter Beck at the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) opening. The ceremony was held in Burwood Park. Workers in florescent vests are standing in the background.
A photograph of the wall of a street football arena built by Student Volunteer Army volunteers. The wall has a sign attached acknowledging the support of Resene, and is painted with the words, 'Red zone timber'.
The Windsor Hotel, on the corner of Montreal Street and Armagh Street. The building was red-stickered after the September 2010 earthquake and demolished after the February 2011 earthquake. Beside the hotel, construction has begun on a modern, tilt-slab building.
A story submitted by Lin to the QuakeStories website.
Fallen potplants and jumbled paving bricks outside Stewart Dawsons in Cashel Mall. A public walkway down Colombo Street to a small viewing area in the Square was opened up for a few weekends to allow the public to see inside the Red Zone.
Weeds growing through the paving outside the old Post Office building in Cathedral Square. A public walkway through to a small viewing area in the Square was opened up for a few weekends to allow the public to see inside the Red Zone.
A snapshot from GPS Boomerang's SmartBird flight over the Christchurch red zone on 5 June 2012, looking over Hereford Street with the Re:Start container mall visible in the bottom right. The Cathedral can be seen in the middle right, Oxford Terrace to the left.
A snapshot from GPS Boomerang's SmartBird flight over the Christchurch red zone on 23 December 2012, looking over the Town Hall and Victoria Square with the site of the Crowne Plaza Hotel visible in the bottom left, GapFiller's Pallet Pavillion now in the space.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house in Christchurch. The walls on the side of the house have crumbled and the bricks have damaged the fence. A red sticker on the front window indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.
For the first time in November 2011, Christchurch residents finally had the opportunity to see the earthquake-damaged city centre on the Red Zone bus tours organised by CERA. Looking down the new Re:Start Mall as the bus goes down Colombo Street.
Members of the public at Gap Filler's "Film in the Gap!" project in Beckenham. Gap Filler has provided old beds and garden swing seats as seating. In the background, the red Southern Espresso Rescue van can be seen.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Kilmore Street on the left. The red-sided building is 818 Colombo Street. The white-sided building with the four rows of square windows is 115-119 Kilmore Street across Colombo Street".
Transcript of Leslie Llewellyn James Griffiths's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Transcript of Blair Anderson's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Transcript of Jan's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Transcript of Vic Bartley's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Transcript of Michelle Durham's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
Summary of oral history interview with Joy Brownie about her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes.
A copy of the CanCERN online newsletter published on 20 December 2013
A copy of the CanCERN online newsletter published on 7 March 2014
A copy of the CanCERN online newsletter published on 31 January 2014
A copy of the CanCERN online newsletter published on 14 September 2012
An aerial photograph of the Christchurch City Council Civic Offices and surrounding buildings. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The River Avon runs through this photograph and marks the western edge of the red zone".
A photograph of a woman wearing a red, lacy eye mask, during the Canterbury Tales procession. The woman is holding a puppet. Canterbury Tales was created by Free Theatre Christchurch, and was the main event of FESTA 2013.