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Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Extended Direct Analysis (EDA), developed at the University of Canterbury, is an advance on the AISC Direct Analysis method for the analysis of frames subjected to static forces. EDA provides a faster, simple and more rational way to properly consider the second-order effects, initial residual stresses (IRS) and the initial imperfections or steel structures under one directional loading than conventional analysis methods. This research applied the EDA method to quantify the effect of member overstrength on frame behaviour for a single storey frame. Also, the effects of IRS, which were included in the EDA static analysis, but which are not considered explicitly in non-linear seismic analysis, were evaluated in two ways. Firstly, they were considered for simple structures subject to increasing cyclic displacement in different directions. Secondly, incremental dynamic analysis with realistic ground motion was used to quantify the likely effect of IRS in earthquakes. It was found that, contrary to traditional wisdom and practice, greater member strengths can result in lower frame strengths for frames under monotonic lateral loading. The structural lateral capacity of the overstrength case was reduced by 6% compared to the case using the dependable member strengths. Also, it resulted significantly different in member demands. Therefore, it is recommended that when either plastic analysis or EDA is used, that both upper and lower bounds on the likely member strength should be considered to determine the total frame strength and the member demands. Results of push-pull analysis under displacement control showed that for IRS ratio, gamma < 0.5 and axial compressive force ratio, N*/Ns, up to 0.5, IRS did affect the structural behaviour in the first half cycle. However, the behavior in the later cycles was not significantly affected. It also showed that the effect of initial residual stresses in the frame was less significant than for the column alone when the column was subjected to similar axial compressive force. The incremental dynamic analysis results from both cantilever column and the three-storey steel frame showed that by increasing gamma = 0 to 0.5, the effect of IRS on seismic responses, based on the 50% confidence level, was less than 3% for N*/Ns, up to 0.5.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This thesis examines the opportunities for young citizens in Christchurch to be engaged in city planning post-disaster. This qualitative study was conducted eight years after the 2010-2011 earthquakes and employed interviews with 18 young people aged between 12-24 years old, 14 of whom were already actively engaged in volunteering or participating in a youth council. It finds that despite having sought out opportunities for youth leadership and advocacy roles post-disaster, young people report frustration that they are excluded from decision-making and public life. These feelings of exclusion were described by young people as political, physical and social. Young people felt politically excluded from decision-making in the city, with some youth reporting that they did not feel listened to by decision-makers or able to make a difference. Physical exclusion was also experienced by the young people I interviewed, who reported that they felt excluded from their city and neighbourhood. This ranged from feeling unwelcome in certain parts of the city due to perceived social stratification, to actual exclusion from newly privatised areas in a post-quake recovery city. Social exclusion was reported by young people in the study in regard to their sense of marginalisation from the wider community, due to structural and social barriers. Among these, they observed a sense of prejudice towards them and other youth due to their age, class and/or ethnicity. The barriers to their participation and inclusion, and their aspirations for Christchurch post-disaster are discussed, as well as the implications of exclusion for young people’s wellbeing and sense of belonging. Results of this study contribute to the literature that challenges the sole focus on children and young peoples’ vulnerability post-disaster, reinforcing their capacity and desire to contribute to the recovery of their city and community (Peek, 2008). This research also challenges the narrative that young people are politically apathetic (Norris, 2004; Nissen, 2017), and adds to our understandings of the way that disasters can concentrate power amongst certain groups, in this case excluding young people generally from decision-making and public life. I conclude with some recommendations for a more robust post-disaster recovery in Christchurch, in ways that are more inclusive of young people and supportive of their wellbeing.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The recent earthquakes in Christchurch have made it clear that issues exist with current RC frame design in New Zealand. In particular, beam elongation in RC frame buildings was widespread and resulted in numerous buildings being rendered irreparable. Design solutions to overcome this problem are clearly needed, and the slotted beam is one such solution. This system has a distinct advantage over other damage avoidance design systems in that it can be constructed using current industry techniques and conventional reinforcing steel. As the name suggests, the slotted beam incorporates a vertical slot along part of the beam depth at the beam-column interface. Geometric beam elongation is accommodated via opening and closing of these slots during seismically induced rotations, while the top concrete hinge is heavily reinforced to prevent material inelastic elongation. Past research on slotted beams has shown that the bond demand on the bottom longitudinal reinforcement is increased compared with equivalent monolithic systems. Satisfying this increased bond demand through conventional means may yield impractical and economically less viable column dimensions. The same research also indicated that the joint shear mechanism was different to that observed within monolithic joints and that additional horizontal reinforcement was required as a result. Through a combination of theoretical investigation, forensic analysis, and database study, this research addresses the above issues and develops design guidelines. The use of supplementary vertical joint stirrups was investigated as a means of improving bond performance without the need for non-standard reinforcing steel or other hardware. These design guidelines were then validated experimentally with the testing of two 80% scale beam-column sub-assemblies. The revised provisions for bond within the bottom longitudinal reinforcement were found to be adequate while the top longitudinal reinforcement remained nominally elastic throughout both tests. An alternate mechanism was found to govern joint shear behaviour, removing the need for additional horizontal joint reinforcement. Current NZS3101:2006 joint shear reinforcement provisions were found to be more than adequate given the typically larger column depths required rendering the strut mechanism more effective. The test results were then used to further refine design recommendations for practicing engineers. Finally, conclusions and future research requirements were outlined.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Oblique convergence of the Pacific and Australian Plates is accommodated in the northern South Island by the Marlborough Fault System. The Hope Fault is the southern of four major dextral strike-slip faults of this system. Hanmer Basin is a probable segment boundary between the Hope River and Conway segments of the Hope Fault. The Conway segment is transpressional and shows increasing structural complexity near the segment boundary at Hanmer Basin, with multiple Late Quaternary traces, and fault-parallel folding in response to across-fault shortening. Between Hossack Station and Hanmer Basin a crush zone in excess of one kilometre wide is exposed in incised streams and rivers. The crush zone has an asymmetrical geometry about the active trace of the Hope Fault, being only 100-300 metres wide south of the fault, and more than 500 metres wide north of the fault. The most intense deformation of Torlesse bedrock occurs at the south side of the fault zone, indicating that strain is accommodated against the fault footwall. North of the fault deformation is less intense, but occurs over a wider area. The wide fault zone at Hossack Station may reflect divergence of the Hanmer Fault, a major splay of the Hope Fault. At Hossack Station, the Hope Fault has accommodated at least 260 metres of dextral displacement during the Holocene. Dating of abandoned stream channels, offset by the Hope Fault, indicated a Late Holocene dextral slip-rate of 18±8 mm-¹ for the west end of the Conway segment. Using empirical formulae and inferred fault parameters, the expected magnitude of an earthquake generated by the Conway segment is M6.9 to M7.4; for an exceedence probability of 10%, the magnitude is M7.7 to M7.9. Effects associated with coseismic rupture of the Conway segment include shaking of up to MMIX along the ruptured fault and at Hanmer Basin. Uplift at the east end of Hanmer Basin, in conjunction with subsidence at the southwest margin of the basin, is resulting in the development of onlapping stratigraphy. Seismic reflection profiles support this theory. Possible along-fault migration of the basin is inferred to be a consequence of non-parallelism of the master faults.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The effects of soil-foundation-structure interaction (SFSI) have been a topic of discussion amongst the structural and geotechnical community for many decades. The complexity of the mechanisms, as well as the need for inter-disciplinary knowledge of geotechnical and structural dynamics has plagued the advancement and the consequent inclusion of SFSI effects in design. A rigorous performance-based design methodology should not just consider the performance of the superstructure but the supporting foundation system as well. Case studies throughout history (eg. Kobe 1995, Kocaeli 1999 and Christchurch earthquakes 2010-2011) have demonstrated that a poor performance at the foundation level can result in a full demolition of the structure and, in general terms, that the extent of damage to, and repairability of, the building system as a whole, is given by the combination of the damage to the soil, foundation and superstructure. The lack of consideration of the modifying factors of SFSI and an absence of intuitive performance levels for controlling foundation and soil behaviour under seismic loads has resulted in inadequate designs for buildings sited on soft soil. For engineers to be satisfied that their designs meet the given performance levels they must first, understand how SFSI affects the overall system performance and secondly have tools available to adequately account for it in their design/assessment. This dissertation presents an integrated performance-based design procedure for buildingfoundation systems that considers all of the major mechanisms of SFSI. A new soil-foundation macro-element model was implemented into a nonlinear finite element software and validated against several experimental tests. The numerical model was used to provide insights in to the mechanisms of SFSI and statistical analysis on the results yielded simple expressions that allow the behaviour to be quantified. Particular attention was paid to the effects of shear force on the foundation response and the quantification of the rocking mode of response. The residual deformations of the superstructure and distribution of forces up the structure were also investigated. All of the major SFSI mechanisms are discussed in detail and targeted numerical studies are used to explain and demonstrate concepts. The design procedure was validated through the design and assessment of a series of concrete buildings that were designed to account for the effects of SFSI.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This thesis seeks to examine how the integration of play, small toys specifically, and the use of solution-focused brief therapy techniques can affect the outcomes for primary school aged children undergoing counselling. The setting is a counselling agency in Christchurch, New Zealand. A qualitative research approach is used and the data analysed using a narrative inquiry approach. The context of this study is the counselling service of an agency where young children, adolescents and their families are helped and supported through a variety of life issues. The counselling the participants are offered uses a combination of a solution-focused and play therapy where the purpose is to encourage clients to find exceptions to their presenting problems and identify their preferred future. The aim of this study is to help the children navigate their problem through a better understanding of and the gaining of personal skills and strengths. Participants were invited to be part of this study through the agency waiting list. The four included presented with a variety of reasons for coming to counselling yet these proved similar to that which the agency has been routinely presented with in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes from 2011 to present day. Each participant had the consent of their parents or caregivers to engage in this project. The participants themselves separately agreed to engage in a solution- focused counselling process where the counsellor also integrated the use of small toys as part of the course. Counselling sessions were audiotaped, aspects photographed and analysed with a specific focus on client engagement. Four key themes emerged as the participants explored their personal narrative. Firstly, the “I’m OK” theme depicted in their first scaling activity, secondly a recognition that things could indeed be better and they needed help. Thirdly, a realisation of their own strengths and skills and finally that the future was an optimistic place to look forward to. These themes are described and explained through descriptions of the participant’s stories as well as self-reflection by the researcher. Transcriptions of sessions are included as are excerpts from the research journal and photographs of the use of the small toys by the children.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

With sea level rise (SLR) fast becoming one of the most pressing matters for governments worldwide, there has been mass amounts of research done on the impacts of SLR. However, these studies have largely focussed on the ways that SLR will impact both the natural and built environment, along with how the risk to low-lying coastal communities can be mitigated, while the inevitable impacts that this will have on mental well-being has been understudied. This research has attempted to determine the ways in which SLR can impact the mental well-being of those living in a low-lying coastal community, along with how these impacts could be mitigated while remaining adaptable to future environmental change. This was done through conducting an in-depth literature review to understand current SLR projections, the key components of mental well-being and how SLR can influence changes to mental well-being. This literature review then shaped a questionnaire which was distributed to residents of the New Brighton coastline. This questionnaire asked respondents how they interact with the local environment, how much they know about SLR and its associated hazards, whether SLR causes any level of stress or worry along with how respondents feel that these impacts could be mitigated. This research found that SLR impacts the mental well-being of those living in low-lying coastal communities through various methods: firstly, the respondents perceived risk to SLR and its associated hazards, which was found to be influenced by the suburbs that respondents live in, their knowledge of SLR, their main sources of information and the prior experience of the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES). Secondly, the financial aspects of SLR were also found to be drivers of stress or worry, with depreciating property values and rising insurance premiums being frequently noted by respondents. It was found that the majority of respondents agreed that being involved in and informed of the protection process, having more readable and accurate information, and an increased engagement with community events and greenspaces would help to reduce the stress or worry caused by SLR, while remaining adaptable to future environmental change.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Researchers have begun to explore the opportunity presented by blue-green infrastructure(a subset of nature-based solutions that provide blue and green space in urban infrastructure)as a response to the pressures of climate change. The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence created a unique landscape within which there is opportunity to experiment with and invest in new solutions to climate change adaptation in urban centres. Constructed wetlands are an example of blue-green infrastructure that can potentially support resilience in urban communities. This research explores interactions between communities and constructed wetlands to understand how this may influence perceptions of community resilience. The regeneration of the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor (OARC) provides a space to investigate these relationships. Seven stakeholders from the community, industry, and academia, each with experience in blue-green infrastructure in the OARC, participated in a series of semi-structured interviews. Each participant was given the opportunity to reflect on their perspectives of community, community resilience, and constructed wetlands and their interconnections. Interview questions aligned with the overarching research objectives to (1) understand perceptions around the role of wetlands in urban communities, (2) develop a definition for community resilience in the context of the Ōtākaro Avon community, and (3) reflect on how wetlands can contribute to (or detract from) community resilience. This study found that constructed wetlands can facilitate learning about the challenges and solutions needed to adapt to climate change. From the perspective of the community representatives, community resilience is linked to social capital. Strong social networks and a relationship with nature were emphasised as core components of a community’s ability to adapt to disruption. Constructed wetlands are therefore recognised as potentially contributing to community resilience by providing spaces for people to engage with each other and nature. Investment in constructed wetlands can support a wider response to climate change impacts. This research was undertaken with the support of the Ōtākaro Living Laboratory Trust, who are invested in the future of the OARC. The outcomes of this study suggest that there is an opportunity to use wetland spaces to establish programmes that explore the perceptions of constructed wetlands from a broader community definition, at each stage of the wetland life cycle, and at wider scales(e.g., at a city scale or beyond).

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

People aged 65 years and older are the fastest growing age group in New Zealand. By the mid-2070s, there are predictions that this age group is likely to comprise approximately one third of the population. Older people are encouraged to stay in their own homes within their community for as long as possible with support to encourage the extension of ageing in place. Currently around 14% of those aged 75 years or older, make the move into retirement villages. This is expected to increase. Little is known by retirement villages about the wellbeing and health of those who decide to live independently in these facilities. Predicting the need for a continuum of care is challenging. This research measured the wellbeing and health of older adults. It was situated in a critical realist paradigm, overlaid with an empathetic axiology. A focused literature review considered the impact on wellbeing from the aspects of living place, age, gender, health status and the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Longitudinal studies used the Enlightenment Scale and the interRAI Community Health Assessment (CHA) to measure the wellbeing and health of one group of residents (n=120) living independently in one retirement village in Canterbury, New Zealand. The research was extended to incorporate two cross-section studies when initial results for wellbeing were found to be higher than anticipated. These additional studies included participants living independently from other retirement villages (n=115) and those living independently within the community (n=354). A total of 589 participants, aged 65 – 97 years old, completed the Enlightenment Scale across the four studies. Across the living places, wellbeing continued to significantly improve with age. The Enlightenment Scale was a useful measure of wellbeing with older adults. Participants in the longitudinal studies largely maintained a relatively good health status, showing little change over the study period of 15 months. Predictions for the need for a move to supportive care were not able to be made using the CHA. The health status of participants did not influence their level of wellbeing. The key finding of note is that the wellbeing score of older adults increases by 1.27 points per year, using the Enlightenment Scale, irrespective of where they live.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Soil-structure interaction (SSI) has been widely studied during the last decades. The influence of the properties of the ground motion, the structure and the soil have been addressed. However, most of the studies in this field consider a stand-alone structure. This assumption is rarely justifiable in dense urban areas where structures are built close to one another. The dynamic interaction between adjacent structures has been studied since the early 1970s, mainly using numerical and analytical models. Even though the early works in this field have significantly contributed to understanding this problem, they commonly consider important simplifications such as assuming a linear behaviour of the structure and the soil. Some experimental works addressing adjacent structures have recently been conducted using geotechnical centrifuges and 1g shake tables. However, further research is needed to enhance the understanding of this complex phenomenon. A particular case of SSI is that of structures founded in fine loose saturated sandy soil. An iconic example was the devastating effects of liquefaction in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the Canterbury earthquake in 2011. In the case of adjacent structures on liquefiable soil, the experimental evidence is even scarcer. The present work addresses the dynamic interaction between adjacent structures by performing multiple experimental studies. The work starts with two-adjacent structures on a small soil container to expose the basics of the problem. Later, results from tests considering a more significant number of structures on a big laminar box filled with sand are presented. Finally, the response of adjacent structures on saturated sandy soil is addressed using a geotechnical centrifuge and a large 1g shake table. This research shows that the acceleration, lateral displacement, foundation rocking, damping ratio, and fundamental frequency of the structure of focus are considerably affected by the presence of neighbouring buildings. In general, adjacent buildings reduced the dynamic response of the structure of focus on dry sand. However, the acceleration was amplified when the structures had a similar fundamental frequency. In the case of structures on saturated sand, the presence of adjacent structures reduced the liquefaction potential. Neighbouring structures on saturated sand also presented larger rotation of the footing and lateral displacement of the top mass than that of the stand-alone case.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

<b>Ōtautahi-Christchurch faces the future in an enviable position. Compared to other New Zealand cities Christchurch has lower housing costs, less congestion, and a brand-new central city emerging from the rubble of the 2011 earthquakes. ‘Room to Breathe: designing a framework for medium density housing (MDH) in Ōtautahi-Christchurch’ seeks to answer the timely question how can medium density housing assist Ōtautahi-Christchurch to respond to growth in a way that supports a well-functioning urban environment? Using research by design, the argument is made that MDH can be used to support a safe, accessible, and connected urban environment that fosters community, while retaining a level of privacy. This is achieved through designing a neighbourhood concept addressing 3 morphological scales- macro- the city; meso- the neighbourhood; and micro- the home and street. The scales are used to inform a design framework for MDH specific to Ōtautahi-Christchurch, presenting a typological concept that takes full advantage of the benefits higher density living has to offer.</b> Room to Breathe proposes repurposing underutilised areas surrounding existing mass transit infrastructure to provide a concentrated populous who do not solely rely on private vehicles for transport. By considering all morphological scales Room to Breathe provides one suggestion on how MDH could become accepted as part of a well-functioning urban environment.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

Natural disasters are often unpredictable and are happening frequently. Some natural disasters cause damage to communities, resulting in displaced individuals. Due to this there is a need for shelter, however, there are many unknown factors. These include unknown demographics, a strain on time, cost, and resources, and the unknown location. This study begins by identifying a lack of identity and personality in existing post-disaster shelter designs, including the example of Linwood Park from the Christchurch 2011 earthquake. Further research shows the lack of personalisation within shelters, along with addressing key requirements needed for shelters. While providing the basic needs is essential, this thesis also addresses how personalisation can impact a space. Taking bach architecture as a driver for a basic, yet unique approach to temporary accommodation, Lake Clearwater Settlement was used as a case study. Through surveys, interviews, and a reflective design process, the importance of embracing identity emerges as a key element in fostering dignity, livelihood, and a sense of self in displaced individuals. This thesis explores innovative approaches to post-disaster shelter design with a focus on accommodating the unique needs and individuality of displaced individuals. From challenging conventional shelter concepts to embracing self-design and community involvement, the research addresses the question of how interior and exterior features can cater to the diverse requirements of those affected by natural disasters.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

The demand for a new approach to safeguarding New Zealand’s endangered historic buildings was identified as a result of the recent increase in building code and strengthening requirements following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-2011. The Wellington City Council identified 266 heritage buildings in the city that must be either strengthened or demolished to address these increased requirements. This thesis explores this threat as an opportunity for researching how contemporary design interventions can be challenged to both strengthen and become active participants in the ongoing history of New Zealand’s potentially endangered historic buildings. This thesis challenges the current approach of completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand, to develop techniques that structurally reinforce historic buildings while inviting the progressive weathering of a building to remain as a testament to its history. This thesis proposes a structural intervention that is responsive to the progressive history of historic buildings, simultaneously introducing a contemporary structural intervention that both participates in and compliments the progressive historic transformations of the vehicle. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the life of a building, while fully restored buildings only enable visitors to witness the original form of the building. This thesis proposes a model for contemporary intervention within historic buildings that draws a design intervention from seismic strengthening.The notion of layering is explored as a design approach to incorporate the contemporary with the historic as an additional layer of exposed on-going history, thereby further exposing the layers of history evident within New Zealand’s historic buildings. This thesis combines layering theories of architects Louis Kahn and Carlo Scarpa with related theories of installation artist Mary Miss. The theoretical imperatives of Scarpa and Kahn are explored as a tool of engagement for the junction between the contemporary and historic building materials, and the work of Marry Miss is explored as a design approach for developing a contemporary intervention that references the layered historic building while inviting new means of occupancy between layers. The selected vehicle for the design research investigation is the Albemarle Hotel on Ghuznee Street in Wellington. The techniques proposed in this thesis to strengthen the Albemarle Hotel suggest an approach that might be applied to New Zealand’s wider body of historic buildings that constitute New Zealand’s heritage fabric, ultimately protecting them from demolition while preserving additional layers of their historic narratives. Over all the design research experiments suggest that contemporary interventions derived from structural strengthening may be a viable and cost-effective method of re-inhabiting New Zealand’s endangered heritage buildings, avoiding demolition and securing New Zealand’s heritage for future generations. Research Questions: This thesis challenges the current economically unsustainable approach of laterally reinforcing and completely ‘restoring’ 19th-20th century historic buildings in New Zealand. This thesis argues that current historic buildings in semi-decayed states in fact enable visitors to witness multiple stages in the on-going life of a building. Can the weathered state of New Zealand's heritage buildings be proactively retained and celebrated as witnesses to their history? Can new lateral reinforcing requirements be conceived as active participants in revealing the on-going history of New Zealand's historic buildings?

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

From 2010, Canterbury, a province of Aotearoa New Zealand, experienced three major disaster events. This study considers the socio-ecological impacts on cross-sectoral suicide prevention agencies and their service users of the 2010 – 2016 Canterbury earthquake sequence, the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic in Canterbury. This study found the prolonged stress caused by these events contributed to a rise in suicide risk factors including anxiety, fear, trauma, distress, alcohol misuse, relationship breakdown, childhood adversity, economic loss and deprivation. The prolonged negative comment by the media on wellbeing in Canterbury was also unhelpful and affected morale. The legacy of these impacts was a rise in referrals to mental health services that has not diminished. This adversity in the socio-ecological system also produced post-traumatic growth, allowing Cantabrians to acquire resilience and help-seeking abilities to support them psychologically through the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporting parental and teacher responses, intergenerational support and targeted public health campaigns, as well as Māori family-centred programmes, strengthened wellbeing. The rise in suicide risk led to the question of what services were required and being delivered in Canterbury and how to enable effective cross-sectoral suicide prevention in Canterbury, deemed essential in all international and national suicide prevention strategies. Components from both the World Health Organisation Suicide Prevention Framework (WHO, 2012; WHO 2021) and the Collective Impact model (Hanleybrown et al., 2012) were considered by participants. The effectiveness of dynamic leadership and the essential conditions of resourcing a supporting agency were found as were the importance of processes that supported equity, lived experience and the partnership of Māori and non-Māori stakeholders. Cross-sectoral suicide prevention was found to enhance the wellbeing of participants, hastening learning, supporting innovation and raising awareness across sectors which might lower stigma. Effective communication was essential in all areas of cross-sectoral suicide prevention and clear action plans enabled measurement of progress. Identified components were combined to create a Collective Impact Suicide Prevention framework that strengthens suicide prevention implementation and can be applied at a local, regional and national level. This study contributes to cross-sectoral suicide prevention planning by considering the socio- ecological, policy and practice mitigations required to lower suicide risk and to increase wellbeing and post-traumatic growth, post-disaster. This study also adds to the growing awareness of the contribution that social work can provide to suicide prevention and conceptualises an alternative governance framework and practice and policy suggestions to support effective cross-sectoral suicide prevention.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Voluntary turnover has been the subject of scholarly inquiry for more than 100 years and much is understood about the drivers of turnover, and the decision-making processes involved. To date most models of voluntary turnover have assumed a rational and sequential decision process, initiated primarily by dissatisfaction with the job and the perceived availability of alternatives. Operating within a strong predictive research agenda, countless studies have sought to validate, extend and refine these traditional models through the addition of distal antecedents, mediators, moderators, and proximal antecedents of turnover. The net result of this research is a large body of empirical support for a somewhat modest relationship between job dissatisfaction, perceived alternatives, turnover intentions, job search behaviour and actual turnover. Far less scholarly attention has been directed at understanding shock-induced turnover that is not necessarily derived from dissatisfaction. Moreover, almost no consideration has been given to understanding how a significant and commonly experienced extra-organisational shock, such as natural disaster, might impact turnover decision making. Additionally, the dynamic and cumulative impacts of multiple shocks on turnover decision making have to date not been examined by turnover researchers. In addressing these gaps this thesis presents a leaver-centric theory of employee turnover decision making that is grounded in the post-disaster context. Data for the study were collected from in-depth interviews with 31 leavers in four large organisations in Christchurch, New Zealand; an area that experienced a major natural disaster in the form of the Canterbury earthquake sequence. This context provided a unique setting in which to study turnover as the primary shock was followed by a series of smaller shocks, resulting in a period of sustained disruption to the pre-shock status quo. Grounded theory methods are used to develop a typology of leaving which describes four distinct patterns of turnover decision making that follow a significant extra-organisational shock. The proposed typology not only addresses the heterogeneous and complex nature of turnover decision making, but also provides a more nuanced explanation of the turnover process explicating how the choice of decision path followed is influenced by four contextual factors which emerged from the data: (1) pre-shock motivational state; (2) decision difficulty; (3) experienced shock magnitude; and (4) the availability of resources. The research findings address several shortcomings in the extant literature on employee turnover, and offer practical recommendations for managers seeking to retain employees in a post-disaster setting.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Tree mortality is a fundamental process governing forest dynamics, but understanding tree mortality patterns is challenging because large, long-term datasets are required. Describing size-specific mortality patterns can be especially difficult, due to few trees in larger size classes. We used permanent plot data from Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides (mountain beech) forest on the eastern slopes of the Southern Alps, New Zealand, where the fates of trees on 250 plots of 0.04 ha were followed, to examine: (1) patterns of size-specific mortality over three consecutive periods spanning 30 years, each characterised by different disturbance, and (2) the strength and direction of neighbourhood crowding effects on sizespecific mortality rates. We found that the size-specific mortality function was U-shaped over the 30-year period as well as within two shorter periods characterised by small-scale pinhole beetle and windthrow disturbance. During a third period, characterised by earthquake disturbance, tree mortality was less size dependent. Small trees (,20 cm in diameter) were more likely to die, in all three periods, if surrounded by a high basal area of larger neighbours, suggesting that sizeasymmetric competition for light was a major cause of mortality. In contrast, large trees ($20 cm in diameter) were more likely to die in the first period if they had few neighbours, indicating that positive crowding effects were sometimes important for survival of large trees. Overall our results suggest that temporal variability in size-specific mortality patterns, and positive interactions between large trees, may sometimes need to be incorporated into models of forest dynamics.

Research papers, Lincoln University

The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, was until very recently a “Junior England”—a small city that still bore the strong imprint of nineteenth-century British colonization, alongside a growing interest in the underlying biophysical setting and the indigenous pre-European landscape. All of this has changed as the city has been subjected to a devastating series of earthquakes, beginning in September 2010, and still continuing, with over 12,000 aftershocks recorded. One of these aftershocks, on February 22, 2011, was very close to the city center and very shallow with disastrous consequences, including a death toll of 185. Many buildings collapsed, and many more need to be demolished for safety purposes, meaning that over 80 percent of the central city will have gone. Tied up with this is the city’s precious heritage—its buildings and parks, rivers, and trees. The threats to heritage throw debates over economics and emotion into sharp relief. A number of nostalgic positions emerge from the dust and rubble, and in one form is a reverse-amnesia—an insistence of the past in the present. Individuals can respond to nostalgia in very different ways, at one extreme become mired in it and unable to move on, and at the other, dismissive of nostalgia as a luxury in the face of more pressing crises. The range of positions on nostalgia represent the complexity of heritage debates, attachment, and identity—and the ways in which disasters amplify the ongoing discourse on approaches to conservation and the value of historic landscapes.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Nature has endowed New Zealand with unique geologic, climatic, and biotic conditions. Her volcanic cones and majestic Southern Alps and her verdant plains and rolling hills provide a landscape as rugged and beautiful as will be found anywhere. Her indigenous fauna and flora are often quite different from that of the rest of the world and consequently have been of widespread interest to biologists everywhere. Her geologic youth and structure and her island climate, in combination with the biological resources, have made a land which is ecologically on edge. These natural endowments along with the manner in which she has utilized her land, have given New Zealand some of the most spectacular and rapid erosion to be found. It is quite evident that geologic and climatic conditions combine to give unusually high rates of natural erosion. Present topographic features indicate the past occurrence of large-scale flooding as well. Prior to the arrival of the Maori, it is very likely that most of the land mass of New Zealand below present bush lines was covered with indigenous bush or forest. Forest fires of a catastrophic nature undoubtedly occurred as a result of lightning, and volcanic eruptions. The exposed soils left by these catastrophes contributed to natural deterioration. While vast areas of forest cover were destroyed, they probably were healed by nature with forest or with grass or herbaceous cover. Further, it is probable that large areas in the mountains were, as they are now, subject to landslides and slipping due to earthquakes and excessive local rainfall. Again, the healing process was probably rapid in most of such exposed areas.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Disasters are often followed by a large-scale stimulus supporting the economy through the built environment, which can last years. During this time, official economic indicators tend to suggest the economy is doing well, but as activity winds down, the sentiment can quickly change. In response to the damaging 2011 earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, the regional economy outpaced national economic growth rates for several years during the rebuild. The repair work on the built environment created years of elevated building activity. However, after the peak of the rebuilding activity, as economic and employment growth retracts below national growth, we are left with the question of how the underlying economy performs during large scale stimulus activity in the built environment. This paper assesses the performance of the underlying economy by quantifying the usual, demand-driven level of building activity at this time. Applying an Input–Output approach and excluding the economic benefit gained from the investment stimulus reveals the performance of the underlying economy. The results reveal a strong growing underlying economy, and while convergence was expected as the stimulus slowed down, the results found that growth had already crossed over for some time. The results reveal that the investment stimulus provides an initial 1.5% to 2% growth buffer from the underlying economy before the growth rates cross over. This supports short-term economic recovery and enables the underlying economy to transition away from a significant rebuild stimulus. Once the growth crosses over, five years after the disaster, economic growth in the underlying economy remains buoyant even if official regional economic data suggest otherwise.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Orientation: Large-scale events such as disasters, wars and pandemics disrupt the economy by diverging resource allocation, which could alter employment growth within the economy during recovery. Research purpose: The literature on the disaster–economic nexus predominantly considers the aggregate performance of the economy, including the stimulus injection. This research assesses the employment transition following a disaster by removing this stimulus injection and evaluating the economy’s performance during recovery. Motivation for the study: The underlying economy’s performance without the stimulus’ benefit remains primarily unanswered. A single disaster event is used to assess the employment transition to guide future stimulus response for disasters. Research approach/design and method: Canterbury, New Zealand, was affected by a series of earthquakes in 2010–2011 and is used as a single case study. Applying the historical construction–economic relationship, a counterfactual level of economic activity is quantified and compared with official results. Using an input–output model to remove the economy-wide impact from the elevated activity reveals the performance of the underlying economy and employment transition during recovery. Main findings: The results indicate a return to a demand-driven level of building activity 10 years after the disaster. Employment transition is characterised by two distinct periods. The first 5 years are stimulus-driven, while the 5 years that follow are demand-driven from the underlying economy. After the initial period of elevated building activity, construction repositioned to its long-term level near 5% of value add. Practical/managerial implications: The level of building activity could be used to confidently assess the performance of regional economies following a destructive disaster. The study results argue for an incentive to redevelop the affected area as quickly as possible to mitigate the negative effect of the destruction and provide a stimulus for the economy. Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to a growing stream of regional disaster economics research that assesses the economic effect using a single case study.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Collective identity construction in organisations engaged in an inter-organisational collaboration (IOC), especially temporary IOCs set up in disaster situations, has received scant attention in the organisational studies literature yet collective identity is considered to be important in fostering effective IOC operations. This doctoral study was designed to add to our understanding about how collective identity is constituted throughout the entire lifespan of a particular temporary coopetitive (i.e., simultaneously collaborative and competitive) IOC formed in a post-disaster environment. To achieve this purpose, a qualitative case study of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT), a time-bound coopetition formed to repair the horizontal infrastructure in Christchurch, New Zealand after the devastating 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, was undertaken. Using data from semi-structured interviews, field observations, and organisational documents and other artefacts, an inductive analytic method was employed to explore how internal stakeholders engaged with and co- constructed a collective SCIRT identity and reconciled this with their home organization identity. The analysis revealed that the SCIRT collective identity was an ongoing process, involving the interweaving of social, temporal, material and geospatial dimensions constructed through intersecting cycles of senior managers’ sensegiving and employees’ sensemaking across SCIRT’s five and a half years of existence. Senior management deliberately undertook identity work campaigns that used organisational rituals, artefacts, and spatial design to disseminate and encourage a sense of “we are all SCIRT”. However, there was no common sense of “we-ness”. Identification with SCIRT was experienced differently among different groups of employees and across time. Employees’ differing senses of collective identity were accounted for by their past, present, and anticipated future relationships with their home organisation, and also (re)shaped by the geosocial environments in which they worked. The study supports previous research claiming that collective identity is a process of recursive sensegiving and sensemaking between senior managers and employees. However, it extends the literature by revealing the imbricated nature of collective identity, how members’ sense of “who we are” can change across the entire lifetime of a temporary IOC, and how sociomateriality, temporality, and geosocial effects strongly intervene in employees’ emerging senses of collective identity. Moreover, the study demonstrates how the ongoing identity work can be embedded in a time-space frame that further accentuates the influence of temporality, especially the anticipated future, organisational rituals, artefacts, and the geosocial environment. The study’s primary contribution to theory is a processual model of collective identity that applies specifically to a temporary IOC involving coopetition. In doing so, it represents a more finely nuanced and situational model than existing models. At a practical level, this model suggests that managers need to appreciate that organisational artefacts, rituals, and the prevailing organisational geosocial environment are inextricably linked in processes that can be manipulated to enhance the construction of collective identity.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Exploring women’s experiences of entering, working in, or leaving the Christchurch construction industry between 2010 and 2018 led to the creation of the theory of “deferential tailoring.” Deferential tailoring explains how women shape their responses to industry conditions as an intentional behavioural adjustment process. Most importantly, this theory provides insight into women’s unseen efforts to build positive workplace relationships, their capability to advance, and challenges to existing views of gender roles in this context. Research on women in construction focusses primarily on identifying and explaining barriers that impact on women’s entry, progression, and retention in the industry. There is an absence of process studies that explain the actions women take to manage industry conditions in business-as-usual, let alone post-disaster contexts. In the eight years following the 2010 Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquakes, rapid changes to the construction industry meant women had unprecedented access and new opportunities in this historically male-dominated domain. This setting provided a unique context within which to investigate how women respond to industry opportunities and challenges. The aim of this interpretive research was to construct a response theory, particular to women working in the Christchurch construction industry. Applying a constructivist grounded theory approach, theoretical sampling, coding and memo writing allowed for the collection and comparative analysis of 36 semi-structured interviews conducted with women working in a cross-section of industry occupations. Three inter- related categories were built: capitalising on opportunity, building capability and token tolerance, which together constitute the deferential tailoring process. Akin to building an invisible glass scaffold, women intentionally regulate their behaviours to successfully seize opportunities and manage social challenges. In building this scaffold, women draw heavily on personal values and positive, proactive attributes as a response to industry conditions. In contrast to previous research, which suggests that women conform to the male-dominated norms of the industry, the theory of deferential tailoring proposes that women are prepared to regulate their behaviour to address the gendered norms that impact on their work experiences. This research contributes towards an evolving body of knowledge that aims to understand how women’s entry into the construction industry, retention, and workplace relationships can be improved. By expanding the view of how women respond to industry conditions over time, this research has generated knowledge that addresses gaps in construction industry literature relating to the management of coping strategies, capitalising on opportunities, and building positive workplace relationships. Knowledge and concepts generated from this research could be integrated into recruitment and training programmes to enhance women’s professional development, shift perceptions of women’s work, and address cultural norms that impact on women’s retention in the construction industry.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Tsunami have the potential to cause significant disruptions to society, including damage to infrastructure, critical to the every-day operation of society. Effective risk management is required to reduce the potential tsunami impacts to them. Christchurch city, situated on the eastern coast of New Zealand’s South Island, is exposed to a number of far-field tsunami hazards. Although the tsunami hazard has been well identified for Christchurch city infrastructure, the likely impacts have not been well constrained. To support effective risk management a credible and realistic infrastructure impact model is required to inform risk management planning. The objectives of this thesis are to assess the impacts on Christchurch city infrastructure from a credible, hypothetical far-field tsunami scenario. To achieve this an impact assessment process is adopted, using tsunami hazard and exposure measures to determine asset vulnerability and subsequent impacts. However, the thesis identified a number of knowledge gaps in infrastructure vulnerability to tsunami. The thesis addresses this by using two approaches: a tsunami damage matrix; and the development of tsunami fragility functions. The tsunami damage matrix pools together tsunami impacts on infrastructure literature, and post-event field observations. It represents the most comprehensive ‘look-up’ resource for tsunami impacts to infrastructure to date. This damage matrix can inform the assessment of tsunami impacts on Christchurch city infrastructure by providing a measure of damage likelihood at various hazard intensities. A more robust approach to tsunami vulnerability of infrastructure are fragility functions, which are also developed in this thesis. These were based on post-event tsunami surveys of the 2011 ‘Tohoku’ earthquake tsunami in Japan. The fragility functions are limited to road and bridge infrastructure, but represent the highest resolution measure of vulnerability for the given assets. As well as providing a measure of damage likelihood for a given tsunami hazard intensity, these also indicate a level of asset damage. The impact assessment process, and synthesized vulnerability measures, are used to run tsunami impact models for Christchurch infrastructure to determine the probability of asset damage occurring and to determine if impact will reach or exceed a given damage state. The models suggest that infrastructure damage is likely to occur in areas exposed to tsunami inundation in this scenario, with significant damage identified for low elevation roads and bridges. The results are presented and discussed in the context of the risk management framework, with emphasis on using risk assessment to inform risk treatment, monitoring and review. In summary, this thesis A) advances tsunami vulnerability and impact assessment methodologies for infrastructure and B) provides a tsunami impact assessment framework for Christchurch city infrastructure which will inform infrastructure tsunami risk management for planners, emergency managers and lifelines groups.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Following the Canterbury earthquake sequence of 2010-11, a large and contiguous tract of vacated ‘red zoned’ land lies alongside the lower Ōtākaro / Avon River and is known as the Avon-Ōtākaro Red Zone (AORZ). This is the second report in the Ecological Regeneration Options (ERO) project that addresses future land uses in the AORZ. The purpose of this report is to present results from an assessment of restoration opportunities conducted in April 2017. The objectives of the assessment were to identify potential benefits of ecological restoration activities across both land and water systems in the AORZ and characterise the key options for their implementation. The focus of this report is not to provide specific advice on the methods for achieving specific restoration endpoints per se. This will vary at different sites and scales with a large number of combinations possible. Rather, the emphasis is on providing an overview of the many restoration and regeneration options in their totality across the AORZ. An additional objective is to support their adequate assessment in the identification of optimum land uses and adaptive management practices for the AORZ. Participatory processes may play a useful role in assessment and stakeholder engagement by providing opportunities for social learning and the co-creation of new knowledge. We used a facilitated local knowledge based approach that generated a large quantity of reliable and site specific data in a short period of time. By inviting participation from a wide knowledge-holder network inclusivity is improved in comparison to small-group expert panel approaches. Similar approaches could be applied to other information gathering and assessment needs in the regeneration planning process. Findings from this study represent the most comprehensive set of concepts available to date to address the potential benefits of ecological regeneration in the AORZ. This is a core topic for planning to avoid missed opportunities and opportunity costs. The results identify a wide range of activities that may be applied to generate benefits for Christchurch and beyond, all involving aspects of a potential new ecology in the AORZ. These may be combined at a range of scales to create scenarios, quantify benefits, and explore the potential for synergies between different land use options. A particular challenge is acquiring the information needed within relatively short time frames. Early attention to gathering baseline data, addressing technical knowledge gaps, and developing conceptual frameworks to account for the many spatio-temporal aspects are all key activities that will assist in delivering the best outcomes. Methodologies by which these many facets can be pulled together in quantitative and comparative assessments are the focus of the final report in the ERO series.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

A Transitional Imaginary: Space, Network and Memory in Christchurch is the outcome and the record of a particular event: the coming together of eight artists and writers in Ōtautahi Christchurch in November 2015, with the ambitious aim to write a book collaboratively over five days. The collaborative process followed the generative ‘book sprint’ method founded by our facilitator for the event, Adam Hyde, who has long been immersed in digital practices in Aotearoa. A book sprint prioritises the collective voice of the participants and reflects the ideas and understandings that are produced at the time in which the book was written, in a plurality of perspectives. Over one hundred books have been completed using the sprint methodology, covering subjects from software documentation to reflections on collaboration and fiction. We chose to approach writing about Ōtautahi Christchurch through this collaborative process in order to reflect the complexity of the post-quake city and the multiple paths to understanding it. The city has itself been a space of intensive collaboration in the post-disaster period. A Transitional Imaginary is a raw and immediate record, as much felt expression as argued thesis. In many ways the process of writing had the character of endurance performance art. The process worked by honouring the different backgrounds of the participants, allowing that dialogue and intensity could be generative of different forms of text, creating a knowledge that eschews a position of authority, working instead to activate whatever anecdotes, opinions, resources and experiences are brought into discussion. This method enables a dynamic of voices that merge here, separate there and interrupt elsewhere again. As in the contested process of rebuilding and reimagining Christchurch itself, the dissonance and counterpoint of writing reflects the form of conversation itself. This book incorporates conflict, agreement and the activation of new ideas through cross-fertilisation to produce a new reading of the city and its transition. The transitional has been given a specific meaning in Christchurch. It is a product of local theorising that encompasses the need for new modes of action in a city that has been substantially demolished (Bennett & Parker, 2012). Transitional projects, such as those created by Gap Filler, take advantage of the physical and social spaces created by the earthquake through activating these as propositions for new ways of being in the city. The transitional is in motion, looking towards the future. A Transitional Imaginary explores the transitional as a way of thinking and how we understand the city through art practices, including the digital and in writing.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This thesis explores the discussions and perspectives of Christchurch secondary school students in regards to their particular experiences and engagement with Anzac. In this thesis I seek to rigorously and robustly examine these viewpoints through semi-structured focus group interviews and thematic analysis. I seek to situate these youth perspectives within wider debates around Anzac mythology and Anzac resurgence in New Zealand which often do not represent the youth outlook. These debates are seen, on the one hand, to present a resurgence of youth engagement with Anzac and, on the other hand, to present the idea that Anzac has become an exclusionary myth which distorts Australians’ and New Zealanders’ understanding of wider Anzac experiences and educates them in a narrow, militarised way. Youth engagement with Anzac was not something which could be solely situated under either of these debates and, instead, it was seen to be multifaceted and made up of unique ideas and elements. The youth in my study acknowledged that their Anzac education did have mythic elements which made it hard for them to engage with Anzac despite the fact that they were actually interested in learning and understanding it. These mythic elements were the idea that Anzac is taught as a ‘simple narrative’ which does not allow room for critique, that it emphasises a link between Anzac and national identity, that it disregards many alternative Anzac experiences and that it presents a particular New Zealand identity to internalise. These students responded to their mythic Anzac education in a very active way, and instead of accepting it as truth, they were able to have constructive and critical conversations about their education and push against parts of it which they found to be too narrow or skewed in particular directions based on gender, ethnicity and national identity. The students were not passive vessels which internalised their Anzac education as fact; instead, they were able to acknowledge the mythic elements of their education and its negative influence in the classroom. This thesis went further in exploring what factors were seen to enhance this active process of critique and provide students with alternative knowledge and perspectives about Anzac. These factors were ancestral ties to Anzac, research into personal Anzac stories and experiences, unassessed educational units, centenary discussions, an understanding of hardship through the earthquakes and alternative perspectives of the Anzac experience through access to the internet. These factors presented a broader understanding of Anzac perspectives and experiences and students believed that if the mythic elements of their education could be revised and these elements encouraged then their engagement with Anzac would continue long into the future.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Smart cities utilise new and innovative technology to improve the function of the city for governments, citizens and businesses. This thesis offers an in-depth discussion on the concept of the smart city and sets the context of smart cities internationally. It also examines how to improve a smart city through public engagement, as well as, how to implement participatory research in a smart city project to improve the level of engagement of citizens in the planning and implementation of smart projects. This thesis shows how to incentivise behaviour change with smart city technology and projects, through increasing participation in the planning and implementation of smart technology in a city. Meaningful data is created through this process of participation for citizens in the city, by engaging the citizens in the creation of the data, therefore the information created through a smart city project is created by and for the citizens themselves. To improve engagement, a city must understand its specific context and its residents. Using Christchurch, New Zealand, and the Christchurch City Council (CCC) Smart City Project as a case study, this research engages CCC stakeholders in the Smart City Project through a series of interviews, and citizens in Christchurch through a survey and focus groups. A thorough literature review has been conducted, to illuminate the different definitions of the smart city in academia, business and governments respectively, and how these definitions vary from one another. It provides details of a carefully selected set of relevant smart cities internationally and will discuss how the Christchurch Earthquake Sequence of 2010 and 2011 has affected the CCC Smart City Project. The research process, alongside the literature review, shows diverse groups of citizens in the city should be acknowledged in this process. The concept of the smart city is redefined to incorporate the context of Christchurch, its citizens and communities. Community perceptions of smart cities in Christchurch consider the post-disaster environment and this event and subsequent rebuild process should be a focus of the smart city project. The research identified that the CCC needs to focus on participatory approaches in the planning and implementation of smart projects, and community organisations in Christchurch offer an opportunity to understand community perspectives on new smart technology and that projects internationally should consider how the context of the city will affect the participation of its residents. This project offers ideas to influence the behaviour change of citizens through a smart city project. Further research should consider other stakeholders, for instance, innovation and technology-focused business in the city, and to fully engage citizens, future research must continue the process of participatory engagement, and target diverse groups in the city, including but not limited to minority groups, older and younger generations, and those with physical and mental disabilities.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Screw Driving Sounding (SDS) method developed in Japan is a relatively new insitu testing technique to characterise soft shallow sites, typically those required for residential house construction. An SDS machine drills a rod into the ground in several loading steps while the rod is continuously rotated. Several parameters, such as torque, load and speed of penetration, are recorded at every rotation of the rod. The SDS method has been introduced in New Zealand, and the results of its application for characterising local sites are discussed in this study. A total of 164 SDS tests were conducted in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland to validate/adjust the methodologies originally developed based on the Japanese practice. Most of the tests were conducted at sites where cone penetration tests (CPT), standard penetration tests (SPT) and borehole logs were available; the comparison of SDS results with existing information showed that the SDS method has great potential as an in-situ testing method for classifying the soils. By compiling the SDS data from 3 different cities and comparing them with the borehole logs, a soil classification chart was generated for identifying the soil type based on SDS parameters. Also, a correlation between fines content and SDS parameters was developed and a procedure for estimating angle of internal friction of sand using SDS parameters was investigated. Furthermore, a correlation was made between the tip resistance of the CPT and the SDS data for different percentages of fines content. The relationship between the SPT N value and a SDS parameter was also proposed. This thesis also presents a methodology for identifying the liquefiable layers of soil using SDS data. SDS tests were performed in both liquefied and non-liquefied areas in Christchurch to find a representative parameter and relationship for predicting the liquefaction potential of soil. Plots were drawn of the cyclic shear stress ratios (CSR) induced by the earthquakes and the corresponding energy of penetration during SDS tests. By identifying liquefied or unliquefied layers using three different popular CPT-based methods, boundary lines corresponding to the various probabilities of liquefaction happening were developed for different ranges of fines contents using logistic regression analysis, these could then be used for estimating the liquefaction potential of soil directly from the SDS data. Finally, the drilling process involved in screw driving sounding was simulated using Abaqus software. Analysis results proved that the model successfully captured the drilling process of the SDS machine in sand. In addition, a chart to predict peak friction angles of sandy sites based on measured SDS parameters for various vertical effective stresses was formulated. As a simple, fast and economical test, the SDS method can be a reliable alternative insitu test for soil and site characterisation, especially for residential house construction.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

As a global phenomenon, many cities are undergoing urban renewal to accommodate rapid growth in urban population. However, urban renewal can struggle to balance social, economic, and environmental outcomes, whereby economic outcomes are often primarily considered by developers. This has important implications for urban forests, which have previously been shown to be negatively affected by development activities. Urban forests serve the purpose of providing ecosystem services and thus are beneficial to human wellbeing. Better understanding the effect of urban renewal on city trees may help improve urban forest outcomes via effective management and policy strategies, thereby maximising ecosystem service provision and human wellbeing. Though the relationship between certain aspects of development and urban forests has received consideration in previous literature, little research has focused on how the complete property redevelopment cycle affects urban forest dynamics over time. This research provides an opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the effect of residential property redevelopment on urban forest dynamics, at a range of spatial scales, in Christchurch, New Zealand following a series of major earthquakes which occurred in 2010 – 2011. One consequence of the earthquakes is the redevelopment of thousands of properties over a relatively short time-frame. The research quantifies changes in canopy cover city-wide, as well as, tree removal, retention, and planting on individual residential properties. Moreover, the research identifies the underlying reasons for these dynamics, by exploring the roles of socio-economic and demographic factors, the spatial relationships between trees and other infrastructure, and finally, the attitudes of residential property owners. To quantify the effect of property redevelopment on canopy cover change in Christchurch, this research delineated tree canopy cover city-wide in 2011 and again in 2015. An object-based image analysis (OBIA) technique was applied to aerial imagery and LiDAR data acquired at both time steps, in order to estimate city-wide canopy cover for 2011 and 2015. Changes in tree canopy cover between 2011 and 2015 were then spatially quantified. Tree canopy cover change was also calculated for all meshblocks (a relatively fine-scale geographic boundary) in Christchurch. The results show a relatively small magnitude of tree canopy cover loss, city-wide, from 10.8% to 10.3% between 2011 and 2015, but a statistically significant change in mean tree canopy cover across all the meshblocks. Tree canopy cover losses were more likely to occur in meshblocks containing properties that underwent a complete redevelopment cycle, but the loss was insensitive to the density of redevelopment within meshblocks. To explore property-scale individual tree dynamics, a mixed-methods approach was used, combining questionnaire data and remote sensing analysis. A mail-based questionnaire was delivered to residential properties to collect resident and household data; 450 residential properties (321 redeveloped, 129 non- redeveloped) returned valid questionnaires and were identified as analysis subjects. Subsequently, 2,422 tree removals and 4,544 tree retentions were identified within the 450 properties; this was done by manually delineating individual tree crowns, based on aerial imagery and LiDAR data, and visually comparing the presence or absence of these trees between 2011 and 2015. The tree removal rate on redeveloped properties (44.0%) was over three times greater than on non-redeveloped properties (13.5%) and the average canopy cover loss on redeveloped properties (52.2%) was significantly greater than on non-redeveloped properties (18.8%). A classification tree (CT) analysis was used to model individual tree dynamics (i.e. tree removal, tree retention) and candidate explanatory variables (i.e. resident and household, economic, land cover, and spatial variables). The results indicate that the model including land cover, spatial, and economic variables had the best predicting ability for individual tree dynamics (accuracy = 73.4%). Relatively small trees were more likely to be removed, while trees with large crowns were more likely to be retained. Trees were most likely to be removed from redeveloped properties with capital values lower than NZ$1,060,000 if they were within 1.4 m of the boundary of a redeveloped building. Conversely, trees were most likely to be retained if they were on a property that was not redeveloped. The analysis suggested that the resident and household factors included as potential explanatory variables did not influence tree removal or retention. To conduct a further exploration of the relationship between resident attitudes and actions towards trees on redeveloped versus non-redeveloped properties, this research also asked the landowners from the 450 properties that returned mail questionnaires to indicate their attitudes towards tree management (i.e. tree removal, tree retention, and tree planting) on their properties. The results show that residents from redeveloped properties were more likely to remove and/or plant trees, while residents from non- redeveloped properties were more likely to retain existing trees. A principal component analysis (PCA) was used to explore resident attitudes towards tree management. The results of the PCA show that residents identified ecosystem disservices (e.g. leaf litter, root damage to infrastructure) as common reasons for tree removal; however, they also noted ecosystem services as important reasons for both tree planting and tree retention on their properties. Moreover, the reasons for tree removal and tree planting varied based on whether residents’ property had been redeveloped. Most tree removal occurred on redeveloped properties because trees were in conflict with redevelopment, but occurred on non- redeveloped properties because of perceived poor tree health. Residents from redeveloped properties were more likely to plant trees due to being aesthetically pleasing or to replace trees removed during redevelopment. Overall, this research adds to, and complements, the existing literature on the effects of residential property redevelopment on urban forest dynamics. The findings of this research provide empirical support for developing specific legislation or policies about urban forest management during residential property redevelopment. The results also imply that urban foresters should enhance public education on the ecosystem services provided by urban forests and thus minimise the potential for tree removal when undertaking property redevelopment.

Research papers, Lincoln University

Prognostic modelling provides an efficient means to analyse the coastal environment and provide effective knowledge for long term urban planning. This paper outlines how the use of SWAN and Xbeach numerical models within the ESRI ArcGIS interface can simulate geomorphological evolution through hydrodynamic forcing for the Greater Christchurch coastal environment. This research followed the data integration techniques of Silva and Taborda (2012) and utilises their beach morphological modelling tool (BeachMM tool). The statutory requirements outlined in the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 were examined to determine whether these requirements are currently being complied with when applying the recent sea level rise predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013), and it would appear that it does not meet those requirements. This is because coastal hazard risk has not been thoroughly quantified by the installation of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) residential red zone. However, the Christchurch City Council’s (CCC) flood management area does provide an extent to which managed coastal retreat is a real option. This research assessed the effectiveness of the prognostic models, forecasted a coastline for 100 years from now, and simulated the physical effects of extreme events such as storm surge given these future predictions. The results of this research suggest that progradation will continue to occur along the Christchurch foreshore due to the net sediment flux retaining an onshore direction and the current hydrodynamic activity not being strong enough to move sediment offshore. However, inundation during periods of storm surge poses a risk to human habitation on low lying areas around the Avon-Heathcote Estuary and the Brooklands lagoon similar to the CCC’s flood management area. There are complex interactions at the Waimakariri River mouth with very high rates of accretion and erosion within a small spatial scale due to the river discharge. There is domination of the marine environment over the river system determined by the lack of generation of a distinct river delta, and river channel has not formed within the intertidal zone clearly. The Avon-Heathcote ebb tidal delta aggrades on the innner fan and erodes on the outer fan due to wave domination. The BeachMM tool facilitates the role of spatial and temporal analysis effectively and the efficiency of that performance is determined by the computational operating system.