Background and methodology The Mw 7.8, 14th November 2016 earthquake centred (item b, figure 1) in the Hurunui District of the South Island, New Zealand, damaged critical infrastructure across North Canterbury and Marlborough. We investigate the impacts to infrastructure and adaptations to the resulting service disruption in four small rural towns (figure 1): Culverden (a), Waiau (c), Ward (d) and Seddon (e). This is accomplished though literary research, interviews and geospatial analysis. Illustrating our methods, we have displayed here a Hurunui District hazard map (figure 2b) and select infrastructure inventories (figures 2a, 3).
The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes have provided a unique opportunity to investigate the seismic performance of both traditional and modern buildings constructed in New Zealand. It is critical that the observed performance is examined and compared against the expected levels of performance that are outlined by the Building Code and Design Standards. In particular, in recent years there has been a significant amount of research into the seismic behaviour of precast concrete floor systems and the robustness of the support connections as a building deforms during an earthquake. An investigation of precast concrete floor systems in Christchurch has been undertaken to assess both the performance of traditional and current design practice. The observed performance for each type of precast floor unit was collated from a number of post-earthquake recognisance activities and compared against the expected performance determined for previous experimental testing and analysis. Possible reasons for both the observed damage, and in some cases the lack of damage, were identified. This critical review of precast concrete floor systems will assist in determining the success of current design practice as well as identify any areas that require further research and/or changes to design standards.
Disaster recovery is significantly affected by funding availability. The timeliness and quality of recovery activities are not only impacted by the extent of the funding but also the mechanisms with which funding is prioritised, allocated and delivered. This research addresses the impact of funding mechanisms on the effectiveness and efficiency of post-disaster demolition and debris management programmes. A qualitative assessment of the impacts on recovery of different funding sources and mechanisms was carried out, using the 2010 Canterbury Earthquake as well as other recent international events as case studies. The impacts assessed include: timeliness, completeness, environmental, economic and social impacts. Of the case studies investigated, the Canterbury Earthquake was the only disaster response to rely solely on a privatised approach to insurance for debris management. Due to the low level of resident displacement and low level of hazard in the waste, this was a satisfactory approach, though not ideal. This approach has led to greater organisational complexity and delays. For many other events, the potential community wide impacts caused by the prolonged presence of disaster debris means that publicly funded and centrally facilitated programmes appear to be the most common and effective method of managing disaster waste.
Children are often overlooked in the aftermath of a natural disaster, and children’s use of coping strategies plays an important part in their post-disaster adaptation (Vernberg, La Greca, Silverman, & Prinstein, 1996). The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the coping strategies of children with adequate self-regulation skills and minimal behaviour problems, living in Christchurch following the major 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. This aim was achieved through the use of semi-structured interviews with five seven-year-old children, their parents, and their teachers. These interviews were analysed using Directed Content Analysis and results showed that children most often reported using active and adaptive coping strategies, followed by avoidant strategies. Results in the current literature regarding children’s coping suggest that children exposed to natural disasters are able to utilise strategies that involve some personal control over their environment and emotions, through the use of active and adaptive coping strategies. Findings from this study contribute to the current understanding of children’s use of coping strategies when faced with commonly occurring childhood upsets. Further research is required regarding the outcomes associated with the use of effective coping strategies following traumatic events.
This article examines the representation of Christchurch, New Zealand, student radio station RDU in the exhibition Alternative Radio at the Canterbury Museum in 2016. With the intention of ‘making visible what is invisible’ about radio broadcasting, the exhibition articulated RDU as a point of interconnection between the technical elements of broadcasting, the social and musical culture of station staff and volunteers, and the broader local and national music scenes. This paper is grounded in observations of the exhibitions and associated public programmes, and interviews with the key participants in the exhibition including the museum's exhibition designer and staff from RDU, who acted as independent practitioners in collaboration with the museum. Alternative Radio also addressed the aftermath of the major earthquake of 22 February 2011, when RDU moved into a customised horse truck after losing its broadcast studio. The exhibition came about because of the cultural resonance of the post-quake story, but also emphasised the long history of the station before that event, and located this small student radio station in the broader heritage discourse of the Canterbury museum, activating the historical, cultural, and personal memories of the station's participants and audiences.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck North Canterbury, on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island on 14 November 2016 had significant impacts and implications for the community of Kaikōura and surrounding settlements. The magnitude and scope of this event has resulted in extensive and ongoing geological and geophysical research into the event. The current paper complements this research by providing a review of existing social science research and offering new analysis of the impact of the earthquake and its aftermath on community resilience in Kaikōura over the past five years. Results demonstrate the significant economic implications for tourism, and primary industries. Recovery has been slow, and largely dependent on restoring transportation networks, which helped catalyse cooperation among local hospitality providers. Challenges remain, however, and not all sectors or households have benefited equally from post-quake opportunities, and long-term recovery trajectories continue to be hampered by COVID-19 pandemic. The multiple ongoing and future stressors faced by Kaikōura require integrated and equitable approaches in order to build capability and capacity for locally based development pathways to ensure long-term community resilience.
For some people, religion, spirituality and faith (RSF) serves an important function, helping them deal with difficult everyday life challenges. This qualitative ethnographic study examines how and in what ways a group of Cantabrians engaged with RSF in dealing with diverse forms of significant trauma – from moments of crisis through to more extended processes of recovery. The research is located within the context of post-earthquake Christchurch, and is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2012–2013. It explores the experiences of respondents representing traditional Christian and non-orthodox, non-Christian faith paths. The thesis draws on data from participant stories to emphasise the subjective experience of RSF and trauma. It argues that in times of crisis, some people draw on RSF to help them address difficult life challenges. The study demonstrates the breadth, diversity and significance of such resourcing, as well as the sometimes surprising, unanticipated forms that this engagement with RSF may take. Contrary to theories that emphasise the marginalisation of religion during times of intense distress, the thesis shows that in varying moments of crisis, people for whom RSF is important, may draw on diverse forms of RSF as a matter of priority to help them.
This section considers forms of collaboration in situated and community projects embedded in important spatial transformation processes in New Zealand cities. It aims to shed light on specific combinations of material and semantic aspects characterising the relation between people and their environment. Contributions focus on participative urban transformations. The essays that follow concentrate on the dynamics of territorial production of associations between multiple actors belonging both to civil society and constituted authority. Their authors were directly engaged in the processes that are reported and conceptualised, thereby offering evidence gained through direct hands-on experience. Some of the investigations use case studies that are conspicuous examples of the recent post-traumatic urban development stemming from the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010-2011. More precisely, these cases belong to the early phases of the programmes of the Christchurch recovery or the Wellington seismic prevention. The relevance of these experiences for the scope of this study lies in the unprecedented height of public engagement at local, national and international levels, a commitment reached also due to the high impact, both emotional and concrete, that affected the entire society.
The Avon-Heathcote Estuary, located in Christchurch, New Zealand, experienced coseismic deformation as a result of the February 22nd 2011 Christchurch Earthquake. The deformation is reflected as subsidence in the northern area and uplift in the southern area of the Estuary, in addition to sand volcanoes which forced up sediment throughout the floor of the Estuary altering estuary bed height and tidal flow. The first part of the research involved quantifying the change in the modern benthic foraminifera distribution as a result of the coseismic deformation caused by the February 22nd 2011 earthquake. By analysing the taxa present immediately post deformation and then the taxa present 2 years post deformation a comparison of the benthic foraminifera distribution can be made of the pre and post deformation. Both the northern and the southern areas of the Estuary were sampled to establish whether foraminifera faunas migrated landward or seaward as a result of subsidence and uplift experienced in different areas. There was no statistical change in overall species distribution in the two year time period since the coseismic deformation occurred, however, there were some noticeable changes in foraminifera distribution at BSNS-Z3 showing a landward migration of taxa. The changes that were predicted to occur as a result of the deformation of the Estuary are taking longer than expected to show up in the foraminiferal record and a longer time period is needed to establish these changes. The second stage involved establishing the modern distribution of foraminifera at Settlers Reserve in the southern area of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary by detailed sampling along a 160 m transect. Foraminifera are sensitive to environmental parameters, tidal height, grainsize, pH and salinity were recorded to evaluate the effect these parameters have on distribution. Bray-Curtis two-way cluster analysis was primarily used to assess the distribution pattern of foraminifera. The modern foraminifera distribution is comparable to that of the modern day New Zealand brackish-water benthic foraminifera distribution and includes species not yet found in other studies of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. Differences in sampling techniques and the restricted intertidal marshland area where the transect samples were collected account for some of the differences seen between this model and past foraminifera studies. xiii The final stage involved sampling a 2.20 m core collected from Settlers Reserve and using the modern foraminiferal distribution to establish a foraminiferal history of Settlers Reserve. As foraminifera are sensitive to tidal height they may record past coseismic deformation events and the core was used to ascertain whether record of past coseismic deformation is preserved in Settlers Reserve sediments. Sampling the core for foraminifera, grainsize, trace metals and carbon material helped to build a story of estuary development. Using the modern foraminiferal distribution and the tidal height information collected, a down core model of past tidal heights was established to determine past rates of change. Foraminifera are not well preserved throughout the core, however, a sudden relative rise in sea level is recorded between 0.25 m and 0.85 m. Using trace metal and isotope analysis to develop an age profile, this sea level rise is interpreted to record coseismic subsidence associated with a palaeoseismic event in the early 1900’s. Overall, although the Avon-Heathcote Estuary experienced clear coseismic deformation as a result of the 22nd of February 2011 earthquake, modern changes in foraminiferal distribution cannot yet be tracked, however, past seismic deformation is identified in a core. The modern transect describes the foraminifera distribution which identifies species that have not been identified in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary before. This thesis enhances the current knowledge of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary and is a baseline for future studies.
Decision making on the reinstatement of the Christchurch sewer system after the Canterbury (New Zealand) earthquake sequence in 2010–2011 relied strongly on damage data, in particular closed circuit television (CCTV). This paper documents that process and considers how data can influence decision making. Data are analyzed on 33,000 pipes and 13,000 repairs and renewals. The primary findings are that (1) there should be a threshold of damage per pipe set to make efficient use of CCTV; (2) for those who are estimating potential damage, care must be taken in direct use of repair data without an understanding of the actual damage modes; and (3) a strong correlation was found between the ratio of faults to repairs per pipe and the estimated peak ground velocity. Taken together, the results provide evidence of the extra benefit that damage data can provide over repair data for wastewater networks and may help guide others in the development of appropriate strategies for data collection and wastewater pipe decisions after disasters.
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.
A review of the week's news including... a major health alert in Pukekohe after two and a half thousand children were exposed to contaminated water, the Prime Minister kicks off election year with a pledge to spend more than half a billion dollar on crime-fighting, is New Zealand citizenship for sale? several former employees of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority are being investigated, international Indian students to be deported, more alleged mistreatment of animals revealed at another New Zealand rodeo event, a women's sexual abuse group says the judge got it wrong when he ruled in favour of a man who posted photos of his half naked wife on Facebook, people increasingly find ways to get around petrol prices that they think are too high, should an unofficial white chair memorial to the victims of the 2011 Christchurch quake be moved? the scientific test results which reveal exactly how Havelock North's drinking water supply was contaminated, the Maori Party backs calls from a group of local councils campaigning to keep their regions free from genetic modification, a film producer is caught out by a recent law change banning anyone travelling from America from entering New Zealand with medicinal cannabis and an update on a seriously unwell albatross chick.
An entry from Maxine Bennett's blog, "Blackbird Has Spoken: Having a go at this blogging lark" (http://www.blackbirdhasspoken.com). The entry for 12 February 2013 is titled "Of sorrow and salvage. Op-Shop Show-Off Feb 12th 2013". Maxine writes, "I’m Max, an English girl in, and in love with New Zealand, and the New Zealander husband. In an almost forgotten previous life I worked as a psychotherapist and psychiatric nurse; now I’m the contented stay at home mother of Claudine who's almost 3, and the baby-boy-currently-gestating. We live a quiet life in a small rural town in our arts and crafts house, but dream of moving out to some land one day, to build our own home and enjoy a long view. I like to laugh, be outside, craft, grow, op-shop, read and cook. My little Kiwi family, learning new things, quiet, beauty and reading blogs make me the happiest of all. My blog is a record of my enthusiasms, fleeting and enduring, and a means of communication with you kindred spirits near and far." Note that the blog post has been converted to PDF format for archiving, which may have resulted in changes to the formatting and layout of the page.
The timeliness and quality of recovery activities are impacted by the organisation and human resourcing of the physical works. This research addresses the suitability of different resourcing strategies on post-disaster demolition and debris management programmes. This qualitative analysis primarily draws on five international case studies including 2010 Canterbury earthquake, 2009 L’Aquila earthquake, 2009 Samoan Tsunami, 2009 Victorian Bushfires and 2005 Hurricane Katrina. The implementation strategies are divided into two categories: collectively and individually facilitated works. The impacts of the implementation strategies chosen are assessed for all disaster waste management activities including demolition, waste collection, transportation, treatment and waste disposal. The impacts assessed include: timeliness, completeness of projects; and environmental, economic and social impacts. Generally, the case studies demonstrate that detritus waste removal and debris from major repair work is managed at an individual property level. Debris collection, demolition and disposal are generally and most effectively carried out as a collective activity. However, implementation strategies are affected by contextual factors (such as funding and legal constraints) and the nature of the disaster waste (degree of hazardous waste, geographical spread of waste etc.) and need to be designed accordingly. Community involvement in recovery activities such as demolition and debris removal is shown to contribute positively to psychosocial recovery.
The 2010 Darfield and 2011 Christchurch Earthquakes triggered extensive liquefaction-induced lateral spreading proximate to streams and rivers in the Christchurch area, causing significant damage to structures and lifelines. A case study in central Christchurch is presented and compares field observations with predicted displacements from the widely adopted empirical model of Youd et al. (2002). Cone penetration testing (CPT), with measured soil gradation indices (fines content and median grain size) on typical fluvial deposits along the Avon River were used to determine the required geotechnical parameters for the model input. The method presented attempts to enable the adoption of the extensive post-quake CPT test records in place of the lower quality and less available Standard Penetration Test (SPT) data required by the original Youd model. The results indicate some agreement between the Youd model predictions and the field observations, while the majority of computed displacements error on the side of over-prediction by more than a factor of two. A sensitivity analysis was performed with respect to the uncertainties used as model input, illustrating the model’s high sensitivity to the input parameters, with median grain size and fines content among the most influential, and suggesting that the use of CPT data to quantify these parameters may lead to variable results.
The majority of Christchurch’s stormwater has historically been discharged untreated directly into urban surface waterways. These receiving waterways have become adversely affected by the contaminants carried in the stormwater, particularly sediment and heavy metals. An event-based contaminant load model was developed to identify the distribution and magnitude of contaminant loads entering the waterway, as well as to assess the reduction in TSS and heavy metal loads that can be achieved by various stormwater management options. The GIS-Excel based model estimates contaminant loads from an individual storm event based on different contributing impervious surfaces and key rainfall characteristics (rainfall intensity, duration, pH and antecedent dry days). It then calculates contaminant reduction loads that could be achieved through source reduction (e.g. green roofs, repainting) as well as from treatment (e.g. raingardens, wet ponds) applied to different surfaces within the catchment. This model differs from other annual load models as it is event-based and accounts for storm characteristics in its calculation of contaminant loads. Christchurch is a valuable case setting due the unique opportunity for retrofitting improved stormwater management in the post-earthquake rebuild. It is anticipated that this modelling approach could later be adapted for use in other urban settings outside of Christchurch.
Based on the recent developments on alternative jointed ductile dry connections for concrete multistorey buildings, the paper aims to extend and propose similar innovative seismic connections for laminated veneer lumber (LVL) timber buildings. The dry connections herein proposed are characterised by a sort of rocking occurring at the section interface of the structural elements when an earthquake occurs; unbonded post-tensioned techniques and dissipative devices respectively provide self-centring and dissipation capacities. The paper illustrates some experimental investigations of an extensive campaign, still undergoing at the University of Canterbury Christchurch, NZ) are herein presented and critically discussed. In particular, results of cyclic quasi-static testing on exterior beam-column subassemblies and wall-to-foundation systems are herein presented; preliminary results of pseudo-dynamic testing on wall-to-foundation specimens are also illustrated. The research investigations confirmed the enhanced seismic performance of these systems/connections; three key aspects , as the no-damageability in the structural elements, typical “flag-shape” cyclic behaviour (with self-centring and dissipation capacity), negligible residual deformations, i.e. limited costs of repair, joined with low mass, flexibility of design and rapidity of construction LVL timber, all create the potential for an increased use in low-rise multistorey buildings.
Recent severe earthquakes, such as the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquake series, have put emphasis on building resilience all over the world. To achieve such resilience, procedures for low damage seismic design have been developed to satisfy both life safety requirements and the need to minimize undesirable economic effects of required building repair or structural member replacement following a major earthquake. Seismic resisting systems following this concept are expected to withstand severe earthquakes without requiring major post-earthquake repairs, using isolating mechanisms or sacrificial systems that either do not need repair or are readily repairable or replaceable. These include the sliding hinge joint with asymmetric friction connections (SHJAFCs) in beam-to-column connections of the moment resisting steel frames (MRSFs) and symmetric friction connections (SFCs) in braces of the braced frames. A 9 m tall, configurable three-storey steel framed composite floor building incorporating frictionbased connections is to be tested using two linked bi-directional shake tables at the International joint research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE) facilities, Shanghai, China. The structural systems are configurable, allowing different moment and braced frame structural systems tested in two horizontal directions. The structure is designed and detailed to undergo, at worst, minor damage under a planned series of severe earthquakes.
- The Avon-Ōtākaro Redzone is an 11 kilometer stretch of land along the Avon-Ōtākaro River in Christchurch. - This project focused on the creation of a publicly available biodiversity map of the AvonŌtākaro River Corridor, a project undertaken as part of the ecological restoration of the Christchurch redzone. - This project originated from the Christchurch 2010-2011 earthquake sequence which saw liquefaction damage along 11km of the Avon River. Under guidance from The Nature Lab & Ōtākaro Living Laboratory, and various other experts, the primary research objective was to map historical biodiversity, identify hotspots, and assess areas for potential revegetation. - The data collected came from historical black maps, current iNaturalist data, and soil classification information. - The findings show that, pre-colonialism, the area was composed of herbaceous areas, wetlands, native shrubland, and tussock land, with key plants such as river, fern, tutu, and cabbage trees. - The post-earthquake analysis shows a transition from a residential area to patchy grasslands and swampy areas. - The findings also showed a strong relationship between historic sites and soil classifications, providing knowledge for past and future vegetation patterns and spread. - This map will be a valuable resource for conservation efforts and public engagement as the area transitions into a blue-green corridor.
Refers to the government's earthquake response legislation and the Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill. 26 experts in constitutional law from all six of the country's law faculties have penned a letter condemning the Government's earthquake response legislation. No sooner was their work in the public eye than the similarly flawed Rugby World Cup 2011 (Empowering) Bill was reported back from a select committee, with a recommendation that it pass. It also goes far beyond what is required to get things done. In bypassing the normal consent process, the bill says the authority does not have to hold hearings on applications and that its decisions can be challenged in the High Court only on points of law. Effectively, the legislation asks New Zealanders to accept that the Rugby World Cup Minister knows best. It is he who knows how the event must be run. Precisely the same attitude pervades the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act. This hands individual Government ministers the power to change almost every law, thereby handing Parliament's normal law-making role to the Executive. Their decisions cannot be challenged in any court'. (NZ Herald editorial - 1 October 2010) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
In the first of two frames which represents 'now' is a row of houses in the bay; two old-style character villas flank a modern house built to look like a boat and someone inside the modern house says proudly that they 'built here because of the character of the bays'. In the second frame which represents 'soon' all of the houses have taken on the character of the modern house and someone from the original modern house can't put their finger on why they feel that 'It's not the same somehow'. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A rescue worker carries the dead body of a woman out of the crumbled remains of a building. Nearby is a copy of the 'Building Code'. Context - there are questions being asked about whether some of the buildings that collapsed too readily in the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 had been subject to stringent enough building code regulations. The Department of Building and Housing said the vertical shaking in the central business district was both extreme and unusual and early indications suggest it was much more violent than designed for in the building code standards which are based on the kind of shaking expected to happen every 500 years. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Two people stare at a demolition scene. The man thinks there must have been an earthquake but the woman advises him that it was the city council. Refers to plans to demolish three buildings in Wellington's Willis Street without public consultation. The buildings due for demolition are owned by Singaporean Grand Complex Properties, which plans eventually to build a multimillion-dollar high-rise on the site, reports stuff.co.nz. The Canterbury earthquake happened 4th September and as a result there has been a lot of discussion about the need to preserve historic buildings if at all possible. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Minister for Christchurch Recovery, Gerry Brownlee drives a huge tractor among debris that spells out 'Due Process' and says 'In order to get Christchurch back on its feet again we have to bring parliament to its knees. Context - The minister says he is happy with the speed of the work being done, as he wants tomake sure those involved in the rebuild portion of the recovery effort are well prepared. The bill establishes the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) and empowers it to lead reconstruction efforts in Christchurch. It gives Cera specific powers to get information from any source, to requisition and build on land and to carry out demolitions. It can also take over local authorities if they are not working effectively on recovery work. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
The cartoon shows a digger dredging through the rubble and digging up a red heart representing 'hope' (Tom Scott doesn't do colour so this is significant). A rescuer nearby yells 'Careful! It's still beating'. Context - on 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck in Christchurch which has probably killed more than 200 people (at this point the number is still not known) and caused much more severe damage. There were many people trapped in collapsed buildings and it was apparent in only two or three days that in most cases they could not have survived but of course people still held out impossible hope. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
The world experiences a number of disasters each year. Following a disaster, the affected area moves to a phase of recovery which involves multiple stakeholders. An important element of recovery is planning the rebuild of the affected environment guided by the legislative framework to which planning is bound to (March & Kornakova, 2017). Yet, there appears to be little research that has investigated the role of planners in a recovery setting and the implications of recovery legislative planning frameworks. This study was conducted to explore the role of the planner in the Canterbury earthquake recovery process in New Zealand and the impact of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011 (CER Act) on planners’ roles and how they operated. The methodology comprised a combination of document analysis of legislation and related recovery material and 21 semi-structured interviews with key planners, politicians and professionals involved in the recovery. The results suggest that the majority of planners interviewed were affected by the CER Act in their role and how they operated, although institutional context, especially political constraints, was a key factor in determining the degree of impact. It is argued that planners played a key role in recovery and were generally equipped in terms of skills needed in a recovery setting. In order to better utilise planners in post-disaster recovery or disaster risk management, two suggestions are proposed. Firstly, better promote planners and their capabilities to improve awareness of what planners can do. Secondly, educate and build an understanding between central government politicians and planners over each others role to produce better planning outcomes.
Prior to the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, parts of the CBD of Christchurch, New Zealand were undergoing revitalisation incorporating aspects of adaptive reuse and gentrification. Such areas were often characterised by a variety of bars, restaurants, and retail outlets of an “alternative” or “bohemian” style. These early 20th century buildings also exhibited relatively low rents and a somewhat chaotic and loosely planned property development approach by small scale developers. Almost all of these buildings were demolished following the earthquakes and a cordon placed around the CBD for several years. A paper presented at the ERES conference in 2013 presented preliminary results, from observation of post-earthquake public meetings and interviews with displaced CBD retailers. This paper highlighted a strongly held fear that the rebuild of the central city, then about to begin, would result in a very different style and cost structure from that which previously existed. As a result, permanent exclusion from the CBD of the types of businesses that previously characterised the successfully revitalised areas would occur. Five years further on, new CBD retail and office buildings have been constructed, but large areas of land between them remain vacant and the new buildings completed are often having difficulty attracting tenants. This paper reports on the further development of this long-term Christchurch case study and examines if the earlier predictions of the displaced retailers are coming true, in that a new CBD that largely mimics a suburban mall in style and tenancy mix, inherently loses some of its competitive advantage?
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.
The lived reality of the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes and its implications for the Waimakariri District, a small but rapidly growing district (third tier of government in New Zealand) north of Christchurch, can illustrate how community well-being, community resilience, and community capitals interrelate in practice generating paradoxical results out of what can otherwise be conceived as a textbook ‘best practice’ case of earthquake recovery. The Waimakariri District Council’s integrated community based recovery framework designed and implemented post-earthquakes in the District was built upon strong political, social, and moral capital elements such as: inter-institutional integration and communication, participation, local knowledge, and social justice. This approach enabled very positive community outputs such as artistic community interventions of the urban environment and communal food forests amongst others. Yet, interests responding to broader economic and political processes (continuous central government interventions, insurance and reinsurance processes, changing socio-cultural patterns) produced a significant loss of community capitals (E.g.: social fragmentation, participation exhaustion, economic leakage, etc.) which simultaneously, despite local Council and community efforts, hindered community well-being in the long term. The story of the Waimakariri District helps understand how resilience governance operates in practice where multi-scalar, non-linear, paradoxical, dynamic, and uncertain outcomes appear to be the norm that underpins the construction of equitable, transformative, and sustainable pathways towards the future.
Severe liquefaction was repeatedly observed during the 2010 - 2011 C hristchurch earthquake s , particularly affecting deposits of fine sands and silty sands of recent fluvial or estuarine origin. The effects of liquefaction included major sliding of soil tow ard water bodies ( i.e. lateral spreading ) rang ing from centimetres to several metres. In this paper, a series of undrained cyclic torsional shear tests were conducted to evaluate the liquefaction and extremely large deformation properties of Christchurch b oiled sand . In these tests, the simple shear conditions were reproduced in order to apply realistic stress conditions that soil s experience in the field during horizontal seismic shaking. Several hollow cylindrical medium dense specimens ( D r = 50%) were pr epared by pluviation method, isotropically consolidated at an effective stress of 100 kPa and then cyclically sheared under undrained conditions up to 10 0% double amplitude shear strain (γ DA ) . The cyclic strength at different levels of γ DA of 7.5%, 15%, 3 0 % and 6 0%, development of extremely large post - liquefaction deformation and shear strain locali s ation properties were assessed from the analysis of the effective stress paths and stress - strain responses . To reveal possible distinctiveness, the cyclic undra ined behaviour of CHCH boiled sand was compared with that of Toyoura sand previously examined under similar testing conditions