BeckerFraserPhotos July 2011 photograph 900

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a plaque commemorating the opening of the Post Office building on Hereford Street.

BeckerFraserPhotos March 2013 photograph 072

Images, UC QuakeStudies

An aerial photograph looking west over Cathedral Square with the Christchurch Cathedral in the centre.

BeckerFraserPhotos June 2012 photograph 687

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cranes working on the Clarendon Tower and the Grant Thornton building, viewed from Cathedral Square".

BeckerFraserPhotos July 2011 photograph 601

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Earthquake damage to the former Lyttleton Post Office on Norwhich Quay in Lyttelton.

Photograph by Jennifer Middendorf 386

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The old post office building in Cathedral Square, now visible from Hereford Street after the demolition of the ANZ building.

BeckerFraserPhotos June 2012 photograph 109

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cathedral and its salvaged rocks under snow".

BeckerFraserPhotos April 2011 photograph 379

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A tent and portable toilets on Manchester Street. The old Post Office building and High Street buildings can be seen in the distance.

BeckerFraserPhotos June 2012 photograph 409

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The old High Street Post Office, now Alice in Videoland and C1 Coffee, at 209 Tuam Street".

BeckerFraserPhotos May 2012 photograph 219

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Cathedral".

BeckerFraserPhotos September 2011 photograph 257

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Looking from Gloucester Street to the Square. Remains of the Cathedral bell tower and the old post office in the background".

BeckerFraserPhotos September 2011 photograph 591

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Demolition site of Regent Theatre, Cathedral Square with old Telecom behind".

BeckerFraserPhotos September 2011 photograph 590

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Demolition site of Regent Theatre, Cathedral Square with Clarendon Towers behind".

Photo by Jennifer Middendorf 044

Images, UC QuakeStudies

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.

BeckerFraserPhotos December 2011 photograph 0297

Images, UC QuakeStudies

An aerial photograph of Hereford Street near Cathedral Square.

Cathedral Square with Regent Theatre in the background

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Looking south west across Cathedral Square showing the eastern side of Christchurch Cathedral (left), the Godley statue (centre left) with the (from left to right) Chief Post Office, the Regent Theatre Building (directly behind the statue on the corner of Worcester Street), the AMP Building, the Government Life Building and the Grand Theatre.

BeckerFraserPhotos May 2012 photograph 221

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "View centered on the Millennium Hotel in Cathedral Square".

The consumption of chaos: From the charm of chaos to the tedium of order …

Research Papers, Lincoln University

Prior to the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, parts of the CBD of Christchurch, New Zealand were undergoing revitalisation incorporating aspects of adaptive reuse and gentrification. Such areas were often characterised by a variety of bars, restaurants, and retail outlets of an “alternative” or “bohemian” style. These early 20th century buildings also exhibited relatively low rents and a somewhat chaotic and loosely planned property development approach by small scale developers. Almost all of these buildings were demolished following the earthquakes and a cordon placed around the CBD for several years. A paper presented at the ERES conference in 2013 presented preliminary results, from observation of post-earthquake public meetings and interviews with displaced CBD retailers. This paper highlighted a strongly held fear that the rebuild of the central city, then about to begin, would result in a very different style and cost structure from that which previously existed. As a result, permanent exclusion from the CBD of the types of businesses that previously characterised the successfully revitalised areas would occur. Five years further on, new CBD retail and office buildings have been constructed, but large areas of land between them remain vacant and the new buildings completed are often having difficulty attracting tenants. This paper reports on the further development of this long-term Christchurch case study and examines if the earlier predictions of the displaced retailers are coming true, in that a new CBD that largely mimics a suburban mall in style and tenancy mix, inherently loses some of its competitive advantage?