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Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Organisations locate strategically within Business Districts (CBDs) in order to cultivate their image, increase their profile, and improve access to customers, suppliers, and services. While CBDs offer an economic benefit to organisations, they also present a unique set of hazard vulnerabilities and planning challenges for businesses. As of May 2012, the Christchurch CBD has been partially cordoned off for over 14 months. Economic activity within the cordoned CBD, which previously contained 6,000 businesses and over 51,000 workers, has been significantly diminished and organisations have been forced to find new ways of operating. The vulnerabilities and resilience of CBDs not only influences outcomes for CBD organisations, but also the broader interconnected (urban/regional/national) system. A CBD is a hub of economic, social, and built infrastructure within a network of links and nodes. When the hub is disrupted all of the people, objects, and transactions that usually flow into and out of the hub must be redirected elsewhere. In an urban situation this means traffic jams in peripheries of the city, increased prices of commercial property, and capital flight; all of which are currently being faced in Canterbury. This report presents the lessons learned from organisations in CBDs affected by the Canterbury earthquakes. Here we focus on the Christchurch CBD; however, several urban town centres were extensively disrupted by the earthquakes. The statistics and discussion presented in this report are based on the results of an ongoing study conducted by Resilient Organisations (www.resorgs.org.nz). The data was captured using two questionnaire surveys of Canterbury organisations (issued November 2010 and May 2011), interviews with key informants, and in-depth case studies of organisations. Several industry sectors were sampled, and geographic samples of organisations in the Christchurch CBD, Lyttelton, and the Kaiapoi town centre were also collected. Results in this report describing “non-CBD organisations” refer to all organisations outside of the Christchurch CBD, Lyttelton, and Kaiapoi town centres.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A poster advertising performers Maryrose Crook, Purple Pilgrims and Thje. The photographer comments, "Maryrose Crook, Purple Pilgrims, Thje. Saturday 26 Feb (2011). HSP 9PM $5. HSP stands for High Street Project. Here is the introduction for her concert 'Maryrose Crook's spectral voice and calenture tunes float through New Zealand giants, The Renderers' psychic country-punk and splatter rock, and emerge in her solo encounters with horripilated grace and filigree menace. Purple pilgrims' wraithish hymns evolve through a braided field of curled nautical drone and distant littoral roar, abstract thrums and change-rung celestial rustle'. She was supposed to perform on 26 February, but I am guessing the concert was cancelled due to the major earthquake in Christchurch on the 22nd. The horrendous quake made the venue at 84 Lichfield Street out of limits due to it being in the dangerous earthquake red zone. It looks like she next performed on the 17 May at the Loons in Lyttelton".