Urban Search and Rescue personnel escorting construction workers down Colombo Street in the aftermath of the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of a woman reading poetry. She is standing in front of the Poetica Urban Poetry wall.
A photograph of the Poetica Urban Poetry wall. Details of the opening event are chalked on the wall.
Successful urban regeneration projects generate benefits that are realised over a much longer timeframe than normal market developments and benefits well beyond those that can be uplifted by a market developer. Consequently there is substantial evidence in the literature that successful place-making and urban regeneration projects are usually public-private partnerships and involve a funder, usually local or central government, willing to contribute ‘patient’ capital. Following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes that devastated the centre of Christchurch, there was an urgent need to rebuild and revitalise the heart of the city, and increasing the number of people living in or near the city centre was seen as a key ingredient of that. In October 2010, an international competition was launched to design and build an Urban Village, a project intended to stimulate renewed residential development in the city. The competition attracted 58 entrants from around world, and in October 2013 the winning team was chosen from four finalists. However the team failed to secure sufficient finance, and in November 2015 the Government announced that the development would not proceed. The Government was unwilling or unable to recognise that an insistence on a pure market approach would not deliver the innovative sustainable village asked for in the competition brief, and failed to factor in the opportunity cost to government, local government, local businesses and the wider Christchurch community of delaying by many years the residential development of the eastern side of the city. As a result, the early vision of the vitality that a thriving residential neighbourhood would bring to the city has not yet been realised.
Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue breaking through the floor of a building which was severely damaged during the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photographs of members of a China Urban Search and Rescue team on Worcester Street near the Christchurch Art Gallery. The art gallery served as the temporary headquarters for Civil Defence after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. In the background, the earthquake damage to the dome of the Regent Theatre can be seen.
A member of the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue Team on the site of the CTV Building.
Members of the Chinese Urban Search and Rescue Team clearing rubble on the site of the CTV Building.
Members of the Japanese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team working on the site of the CTV Building.
A member of the Chinese Urban Search and Rescue Team on the site of the CTV Building.
A photograph of volunteers standing beside a fence made from wooden pallets, at the site of the Poetica Urban Poetry wall.
A photograph of part of an installation titled Urban RefleXion. The installation was designed by Architectural Studies students from CPIT for Canterbury Tales.
A photograph of a woman reading poetry to an audience. She is standing in front of the Poetica Urban Poetry wall.
Members of the Chinese Urban Search and Rescue Team clearing rubble on the site of the CTV Building.
A member of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team working in Christchurch central city.
Peri-urban environments are critical to the connections between urban and rural ecosystems and their respective communities. Lowland floodplains are important examples that are attractive for urbanisation and often associated with the loss of rural lands and resources. In Christchurch, New Zealand, damage from major earthquakes led to the large-scale abandonment of urban residential properties in former floodplain areas creating a rare opportunity to re-imagine the future of these lands. This has posed a unique governance challenge involving the reassessment of land-use options and a renewed focus on disaster risk and climate change adaptation. Urban-rural tensions have emerged through decisions on relocating residential development, alternative proposals for land uses, and an unprecedented opportunity for redress of degraded traditional values for indigenous (Māori) people. Immediately following the earthquakes, existing statutory arrangements applied to many recovery needs and identified institutional responsibilities. Bespoke legislation was also created to address the scale of impacts. Characteristics of the approach have included attention to information acquisition, iterative assessment of land - use options, and a wide variety of opportunities for community participation. Challenges have included a protracted decision-making process with accompanying transaction costs, and a high requirement for coordination. The case typifies the challenges of achieving ecosystem governance where both urban and rural stakeholders have strong desires and an opportunity to exert influence. It presents a unique context for applying the latest thinking on ecosystem management, adaptation, and resilience, and offers transferable learning for the governance of peri-urban floodplains worldwide.
The scale of damage from a series of earthquakes across Christchurch Otautahi in 2010 and 2011 challenged all networks in the city at a time when many individuals and communities were under severe economic pressure. Historically, Maori have drawn on traditional institutions such as whanau, marae, hapu and iwi in their endurance of past crises. This paper presents research in progress to describe how these Maori-centric networks supported both Maori and non-Maori through massive urban dislocation. Resilience to any disaster can be explained by configurations of economic, social and cultural factors. Knowing what has contributed to Maori resilience is fundamental to the strategic enhancement of future urban communities - Maori and non-Maori.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams clearing rubble on the site of the CTV Building.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams digging through rubble at the CTV site.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Members of the Police and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams working on the site of the CTV Building.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Members of the New Zealand and Japanese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams working on the site of the CTV Building.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams digging through rubble at the CTV site.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams working on the site of the CTV Building.
Members of the New Zealand and Chinese Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams digging through rubble at the CTV site.
A member of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
Members of the South Australian Urban Search and Rescue team digging through rubble in the central city.
A member of the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team working on the site of the CTV Building.