The Christchurch city council says today's flooding would have been much worse had it not been for post-earthquake upgrades to the storm water system.
A super council, along the lines of Auckland city could be on the cards in Canterbury, but not until the earthquake recovery is well underway.
A victim's family and engineers are seeking answers from the Christchurch City Council on why the earthquake-devastated CTV building was allowed to be built.
When the earthquake demolished Christchurch's central business district, some business owners had no option but to pack up and start again in a different city.
A photograph showing a crane next to the heavily braced Our City-Otautahi building. A pile of large plastic wheelie bins is in the foreground.
A photograph of the NewstalkZB building. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Looking down Oxford Terrace, River Avon to right, towards Central City".
Sunset over the rubble on Gloucester Street during the LuxCity event. The stage area of the Isaac Theatre Royal is visible in the background.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "210 Tuam Street".
Spud Hilton knows what it's like to feel the fear of a large scale earthquake. As the Travel Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, he lives in a city on a fault line. Spud Hilton has just published an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the status of Christchurch as a tourist destination and as a city that must rebuild, rethink and reinvent itself.
A year and a half after the February Earthquake, economics has ensured much of the waste material coming out of Christchurch's central city has been recycled.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The new Press building on Gloucester Street at dusk. The central city red zone now has office workers and lights on".
A view from Cambridge Terrace of the damaged Our City O-Tautahi building, formerly the Municipal Chambers. Scaffolding has been placed along the side of the building.
A graffiti paste-up of a digger on the side of a building in the central city. The artist has added a speech bubble reading, "Nom, nom".
Animal sculpture made out of grass in Re:Start mall in Re:Start mall. This was one of the sculptures presented by the Christchurch Garden City Trust.
The Odeon Theatre and next to it is the Pink Pussy Cat Building formerly Lawrie & Wilson Auctioneers and used by the Parking Unit of Christchurch City Council.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The lights are on at the new Press building, the first office workers to return to the central city red zone".
A photograph of documents taped to the door of 156 McCormacks Bay Road in Redcliffs. One of the documents is from the Christchurch City Council and reads, "Do not approach or enter this building".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Jeremy Stewart of Alice in Videoland holding 'When a City Falls', the film recently released about the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes".
The Christchurch Mayor says the city council will meet with GNS scientists to get some answers about the current sequence of earthquakes, which have sparked anxiety among residents.
The Christchurch City Council has admitted it failed to provide a second line of defence in checks on a building that killed a woman during last February's earthquake.
A photograph of a city centre map attached to a cordon fence. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Crowne Plaza Hotel, corner Kilmore and Victoria Streets. Demolition".
A photograph of a city centre map attached to a cordon fence. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Crowne Plaza Hotel, corner Kilmore and Victoria Streets. Demolition".
View down Re:Start mall, an elephant grass sculpture presented by the Christchurch Garden City Trust and street lights with banners in the Canterbury colour, red and black.
Increasingly, economic, political and human crises, along with natural disasters, constitute a recurrent reality around the world. The effect of large-scale disaster and economic disruption are being felt far and wide and impacting libraries in diverse ways. Libraries are casualties of natural disasters, from earthquakes to hurricanes, as well as civil unrest and wars. Sudden cuts in library budgets have resulted in severe staff reductions, privatization and even closures. The presenters share their experiences about how they have prepared for or coped with profound change.
Since September 2010 Christchurch, New Zealand, has experienced a number of significant earthquakes. In addition to loss of life, this has resulted in significant destruction to infrastructure, including road corridors; and buildings, especially in the central city, where it has been estimated that 60% of buildings will need to be rebuilt. The rebuild and renewal of Christchurch has initially focused on the central city under the direction of the Christchurch City Council. This has seen the development of a draft Central City Plan that includes a number of initiatives that should encourage the use of the bicycle as a mode of transport. The rebuild and renewal of the remainder of the city is under the jurisdiction of a specially set up authority, the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA). CERA reports to an appointed Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, who is responsible for coordinating the planning, spending, and actual rebuilding work needed for the recovery. Their plans for the renewal and rebuild of the remainder of the city are not yet known. This presentation will examine the potential role of the bicycle as a mode of transport in a rebuilt Christchurch. The presentation will start by describing the nature of damage to Christchurch as a result of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. It will then review the Central City Plan (the plan for the rebuild and renewal for central Christchurch) focusing particularly on those aspects that affect the role of the bicycle. The potential for the success of this plan will be assessed. It will specifically reflect on this in light of some recent research in Christchurch that examined the importance of getting infrastructure right if an aim of transport planning is to attract new people to cycle for utilitarian reasons.
A photograph of the partially-demolished Clarendon Tower.
A photograph of the spire of ChristChurch Cathedral sitting on the ground in Cathedral Square. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The dry summer grass shows the passing of the seasons while the top of the spire of the ChristChurch Cathedral stays still".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The light shines through these stained glass windows in ChristChurch Cathedral in a way that used to be seen only from the inside of the Cathedral".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Long summer grass surrounds the fallen stone on the south side of ChristChurch Cathedral".
A photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "This detail from the south side of ChristChurch Cathedral shows the lateral movement that has occurred at about this height all along the south side".