On the third anniversary of the first major earthquake to hit Christchurch thousands of people with the most badly damaged homes are still wrangling with their insurance companies over rebuilds.
Christchurch is home to many diverse ethnic groups whose voices have sometimes gone unheard in the aftermath of the earthquakes and the city's rebuild plans. Katy Gosset visits a gathering in Christchurch's battered eastern suburbs to hear their thoughts on post-quake life and the future of their adopted home.
Refers to the rebuilding of Christchurch after the earthquakes. Shown are a cardboard 'weetbix' box, a condom brothel that gives great protection, a pile of rolls of toilet paper, the 'popcorn hotel' expands in microwave, the 'Milo' building, soft but reinforced with iron', and the 'styrofoam chalice'. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cotterill family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. William and Simonetta Cotterill in their makeshift bedroom which used to the drawing room".
A video run-through of the interactive documentary Obrero. Obrero ('worker') is an independent multi-platform documentary project. It tells the stories of Filipino rebuild workers temporarily migrating to Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand after the earthquake in 2011. The interactive documentary can be explored at https://www.obrerofilm.com/. Norman Zafra is a Filipino journalist-documentary maker and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Auckland's Media and Communication Department. He has worked as producer, writer, and director of award-winning Philippine TV documentary programmes such as Reporter’s Notebook and I-Witness.
A powhiri performed by Ngai Tahu elders to welcome workers of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). Reverend Peter Beck and Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee can be seen standing amongst the group. The ceremony was held in Burwood Park.
A powhiri performed by Ngai Tahu elders to welcome workers of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). Reverend Peter Beck and Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee can be seen standing amongst the group. The ceremony was held in Burwood Park.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cotterill family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. William and Simonetta Cotterill in their makeshift bedroom which used to be the drawing room".
A powhiri performed by Ngai Tahu elders to welcome workers of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). Reverend Peter Beck is standing in the centre and Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee to the left. The ceremony was held in Burwood Park.
Documents obtained by Radio New Zealand show WorkSafe New Zealand was still grappling to get on top of asbestos dangers in the Christchurch rebuild nearly two years after the February 2011 earthquake.
“One of the most basic and fundamental questions in urban master planning and building regulations is ‘how to secure common access to sun, light and fresh air?” (Stromann-Andersen & Sattrup, 2011). Daylighting and natural ventilation can have significant benefits in office buildings. Both of these ‘passive’ strategies have been found to reduce artificial lighting and air-conditioning energy consumption by as much as 80% (Ministry for the Environment, 2008); (Brager, et al., 2007). Access to daylight and fresh air can also be credited with improved occupant comfort and health, which can lead to a reduction of employee absenteeism and an increase of productivity (Sustainability Victoria, 2008). In the rebuild of Christchurch central city, following the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, Cantabrians have expressed a desire for a low-rise, sustainable city, with open spaces and high performance buildings (Christchurch City Council, 2011). With over 80% of the central city being demolished, a unique opportunity to readdress urban form and create a city that provides all buildings with access to daylight and fresh air exists. But a major barrier to wide-spread adoption of passive buildings in New Zealand is their dependence on void space to deliver daylight and fresh air – void space which could otherwise be valuable built floor space. Currently, urban planning regulations in Christchurch prioritize density, allowing and even encouraging low performance compact buildings. Considering this issue of density, this thesis aimed to determine which urban form and building design changes would have the greatest effect on building performance in Central City Christchurch. The research proposed and parametrically tested modifications of the current compact urban form model, as well as passive building design elements. Proposed changes were assessed in three areas: energy consumption, indoor comfort and density. Three computer programs were used: EnergyPlus was the primary tool, simulating energy consumption and thermal comfort. Radiance/Daysim was used to provide robust daylighting calculations and analysis. UrbaWind enabled detailed consideration of the urban wind environment for reliable natural ventilation predictions. Results found that, through a porous urban form and utilization of daylight and fresh air via simple windows, energy consumption could be reduced as much as 50% in buildings. With automatic modulation of windows and lighting, thermal and visual comfort could be maintained naturally for the majority of the occupied year. Separation of buildings by as little as 2m enabled significant energy improvements while having only minimal impact on individual property and city densities. Findings indicated that with minor alterations to current urban planning laws, all buildings could have common access to daylight and fresh air, enabling them to operate naturally, increasing energy efficiency and resilience.
A man who represents 'Chch citizens' struggles up a rough and rocky road carrying over his shoulder a huge load that represents 'a devastated city'. Three signposts ahead of him point to 'faith', 'hope' and 'charity'. Context - The struggle to rebuild the city of Christchurch after the earthquake of 22 February 2011. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
This study is a qualitative investigation into the decision-making behaviour of commercial property owners (investors and developers) who are rebuilding in a city centre after a major disaster. In 2010/2011, Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, was a site of numerous earthquakes. The stronger earthquakes destroyed many buildings and public infrastructure in the commercial inner city. As a result, affected property owners lost all or most of their buildings, a significant proportion of which were old and in the last phase of their life span. They had to negotiate pay-outs with insurance companies and decide, once paid out, whether they should rebuild in Christchurch or sell up and invest elsewhere. The clear majority of those who decided to reinvest in and rebuild the city are ‘locals’, almost all of whom had no prior experience of property development. Thus, in a post-disaster environment, most of these property owners have transitioned from being just being passive investors to active property developers. Their experience was interpreted using primary data gathered from in-depth and semi-structured interviews with twenty-one “informed property people” who included commercial property owners; property agents or consultants; representatives of public-sector agencies and financial institutions. The study findings showed that the decision-making behaviour of property investors and developers rebuilding after a major disaster did not necessarily follow a strict financial or profit motive as prescribed in the mainstream or neo-classical economics property literature. Rather, their decision-making behaviour has been largely shaped by emotional connections and external factors associated with their immediate environment. The theoretical proposition emerging from this study is that after a major disaster, local urban property owners are faced with two choices “to stay” or “to go”. Those who decide to stay and rebuild are typically very committed individuals who have a feeling of ownership, belonging and attachment to the city in which they live and work. These are people who will often take the lead in commercial property development, proactively making decisions and seeking positive investment outcomes for themselves which in turn result in revitalised commercial urban precincts.
Shows a patched wind up heart labelled 'ChCh Central' with several tubes attached. Context: On 18 April 2012 Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee annnounced the establishment of Christchurch Central Development Unit focussing on the rebuilding of the Christchurch Central Business District (CBD) (Scoop website 18 April 2012). Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September earthquake, but the Cotterill family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
A powhiri performed by Ngai Tahu elders to welcome workers of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT). Phil Goff is standing in the centre of the group that is being welcomed. Two cameras are filming the welcome. The ceremony was held in Burwood Park.
In half an hour, the first passenger train since the devastating Kaikoura earthquake will depart Picton for Christchurch. The 7.8 earthquake that struck the region in 2016 ripped up much of the scenic Coastal Pacific railway - sweeping kilometres of tracks out to sea and buried beneath slips. The rebuild of the railway line has taken two years and the efforts of nearly 1700 workers. Todd Moyle is KiwiRail's acting chief executive. He talks to Susie Ferguson.
A video of a presentation by Justin Kean, Director of Research and Consulting at JLL, at the 2016 Seismics in the City Conference. The presentation is titled, "Factors Shaping the Industrial and Commercial Evolution of Greater Christchurch".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cotterill family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Builders repair the master bedroom where a large brick chimney came through the room narrowly missing the Cotterills and totally obliterating their bed".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cottrell family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Pete Davey from Ambrose Heal Furniture. Owner Pete Davey has had to demolish his building and work out of a house at the back. He's going to rebuild, and has put a cheeky sign up saying that he has 'survived the recession, Chinese imports, and the earthquake'".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cotterill family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Builders repair the master bedroom where a large brick chimney came through the room narrowly missing the Cotterills and totally obliterating their bed".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cottrell family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cottrell family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cottrell family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cottrell family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Gunyah homestead was badly damaged during the September 4th 2010 earthquake, but the Cottrell family are picking up the pieces and rebuilding. Master bedroom where a large brick chimney fell through the roof crushing the bed where William and Simonetta Cottrell had been sleeping moments before".
Christchurch and Canterbury suffered significant housing losses due to the earthquakes. Estimates from the Earthquake Commission (EQC) (2011) suggest that over 150,000 homes (around three quarters of Christchurch housing stock) sustained damage from the earthquakes. Some areas of Christchurch have been declared not suitable for rebuilding, affecting more than 7,500 residential properties.
The Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, says he is confident that Fletchers is vigilant about fraud and is doing what it can to prevent it in the Christchurch rebuild after accusations from New Zealand First.
A photograph of a protest sign reading, "Pillage People" and showing the faces of key figures in the Christchurch rebuild superimposed on the bodies of the Village People. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Woodham Road, Linwood".