A paper which outlines SCIRT's approach to asset assessment, design and repair of damaged retaining walls, and presents a case study of a retaining wall rebuild, on Cunningham Terrace, Lyttelton.
This topic was chosen in response to the devastation caused to Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand following earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Working amongst the demolition bought to attention questions about how to re-conceive the square within the rebuilt city. In particular, it raised questions as to how a central square could be better integrated and experienced as a contemporary addition to Christchurch city. This thesis seeks to investigate the ways in which central squares can be better integrated with the contemporary city and how New Urbanist design principles can contribute toward this union. The research principally focuses on the physical and spatial integration of the square with the contemporary city. A drawing-based analysis of select precedent case studies helped to determine early on that overall integration of the contemporary square could be attributed to several interdependent criteria. The detailed studies are supplemented further with literature-based research that narrowed the criteria to five integrative properties. These are: identity, scale and proportion, use, connectivity and natural landscape. These were synthesised, in part, from the integrative New Urbanist movement and the emerging integrative side of the more contemporary Post Urbanist movement. The literature-based research revealed that a more inclusive approach toward New Urbanist and Post Urbanist design methodologies may also produce a more integrated and contemporary square. Three design case studies, using the redesign of Cathedral Square, were undertaken to test this hypothesis. The case studies found that overall, integration was reliant on a harmonious balance between the five integrative properties, concluding that squares can be better integrated with the contemporary city. Further testing of the third concept, which embraced an allied New Urbanist / Post Urbanist approach to design, found that New Urbanism was limited in its contribution toward the integration of the square.
The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, incurred significant damage due to a series of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city had, by the late 2010s, regained economic and social normalcy after a sustained period of rebuilding and economic recovery. Through the concerted rebuilding effort, a modern central business district (CBD) with redesigned infrastructure and amenities was developed. The Christchurch rebuild was underpinned by a commitment of urban planners to an open and connected city, including the use of innovative technologies to gather, use and share data. As was the case elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant disruptions to social and economic life in Christchurch. Border closures, lockdowns, trading limitations and other restrictions on movement led to changes in traditional consumer behaviors and affected the retail sector’s resilience. In this study, we used CBD pedestrian traffic data gathered from various locations to predict changes in retail spending and identify recovery implications through the lens of retail resilience. We found that the COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns have driven a substantive change in the behavioral patterns of city users. The implications for resilient retail, sustainable policy and further research are explored.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Snow in the central city red zone. The intersection of Hereford and Manchester Streets, south-east view".
Bricks that have fallen from the neighbouring building into Woolsack Lane in the central city. Above them, a lamp post has been bent.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Snow in the central city red zone. The intersection of Hereford and Manchester Streets, south-west view".
A photograph submitted by Ginny Larsen to the QuakeStories website. The description reads, "April 2011 Overwhelmed by the destruction of our city".
An aerial photograph of the Christchurch central city with Colombo Street at the bottom and the Westpac Trust building in the top right.
A photograph of bricks stacked outside a house in the Christchurch central city. Bricks can also be seen in the green bins behind.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Snow in the central city red zone. The intersection of Hereford and Manchester Streets, north-east view".
An aerial photograph looking south over the Christchurch City Council administration building on Worcester Street with the Christchurch Art Gallery in the foreground.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Snow in the central city red zone. The intersection of Hereford and Manchester Streets, north-west view".
A photograph of members of the Wellington Emergency Management Office Emergency Response Team standing in a car park in the Christchurch city centre.
Oxford Terrace Baptist Church on the corner of Madras St and Oxford Terrace, and alongside the Central City Fire Station on Kilmore St.
Workers taking a break on Madras Street. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The central city has different kinds of workers from the people you used to see on these streets".
A photograph of a pile of rubble on the side of a residential road in Christchurch. The material has been removed from a property and placed on the road for the Christchurch City Council to collect.
A tent on Worcester Street set up for the soldiers stationed around the cordon. In the background, the damaged Our City O-Tautahi Building can be seen with steel bracing holding up the front.
An entry from Deb Robertson's blog for 21 August 2015 entitled, "Sociology of the City {Part 2(4) Sociology 355}".The entry was downloaded on 2 November 2016.
The city centre and Tuahiwi Marae, the home of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, are now linked by names. The Anglican cathedral and Tuahiwi’s church, both called St Stephens, sit on land called Whitireia. Whitireia was the house of Paekia, the ancestor who landed on the North Island on the back of a whale at Tūranga, which is now the name of Christchurch’s city library.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "City block bounded by Madras Street (left) and Barbadoes Street (right) Lichfield Street (upper) and Tuam Street (lower)".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "City blocks bounded by Madras Street (left) and Barbadoes Street (right) Hereford Street (upper) and Lichfield Street (lower)".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "City Council admin building (centre), Cathedral Square (lower left), Arts Centre (centre right) and public hospital (upper right)".
An aerial photograph of the Christchurch central city with Gloucester Street running through the centre of the photograph, and Clarendon Towers in the middle.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The heart of the city is dark in the evenings, although the lights twinkle from the other side".
Caleb and Zeph Middendorf enjoying lunch from the food stalls in the Re:Start mall. The Quake City exhibition is visible in the background.
A document which details the agreement in September 2013 between the Government and the Christchurch City Council over governance of the horizontal infrastructure rebuild.
A variation to the consent granted by the Christchurch City Council, providing consent to carry out earthquake repair work that may affect protected vegetation.
Aftermath of September 4th Earthquake in Canterbury (area covers Christchurch City) NZ. Damage to bridge on Spencerville Road crossing the Lower Styx river.
The now vacated Christchurch City Council building suffered some damage in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Christchurch on Saturday 4 September 2010.
The now vacated Christchurch City Council building suffered some damage in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Christchurch on Saturday 4 September 2010.