Sue Davidson's Blog 24/10/2012: Steps and garden walls

Articles, UC QuakeStudies

An entry from Sue Davidson's blog for 24 October 2012 entitled, "Steps and garden walls".

Photograph by Jennifer Middendorf 314

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A damaged brick wall around a courtyard garden on Ash Street, seen from Madras Street.

Helen Devereux Photograph 125

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Topiary plants presented by the Christchurch Garden City Trust liven up the Re:START Mall.

Helen Devereux Photograph 124

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Topiary plants presented by the Christchurch Garden City Trust liven up the Re:START Mall.

Helen Devereux Photograph 123

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Topiary plants presented by the Christchurch Garden City Trust liven up the Re:START Mall.

Helen Devereux Photograph 098

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Under the trees in the Botanic Gardens was a 'Road Cone Art Competition', to see what sculptures the public could make out of a road cone.

Helen Devereux Photograph 099

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Under the trees in the Botanic Gardens was a 'Road Cone Art Competition', to see what sculptures the public could make out of a road cone.

Photograph by Jennifer Middendorf 315

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A damaged brick wall around a courtyard garden on Ash Street, seen from Madras Street. The Alice in Videoland building can be seen in the background.

Photograph by Jennifer Middendorf 394

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A memorial plaque in a garden in Re:Start mall reads, "In memory of those who lost their lives in City Mall during the earthquake of 22 February 2011".

Photograph by Jennifer Middendorf 393

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A memorial plaque in a garden in Re:Start mall reads, "In memory of those who lost their lives in City Mall during the earthquake of 22 February 2011".

Helen Devereux Photograph 100

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Under the trees in the Botanic Gardens was a 'Road Cone Art Competition', to see what sculptures the public could make out of a road cone. This work was titled 'Conllicious'.

Helen Devereux Photograph 101

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Under the trees in the Botanic Gardens was a 'Road Cone Art Competition', to see what sculptures the public could make out of a road cone. This work was titled 'Flight of the Butterflies'.

Photograph by Paul Corliss 2935

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A photograph of a letterbox in an overgrown garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "192 Bridle Path Road, Heathcote".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 1978

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A photograph of cracks in a garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "River Road, Avonside".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 1813

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A photograph of the Regent Theatre dome sitting in a garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Rescued dome at Paddy Snowden's place, Brittan Street, Linwood".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 1818

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A photograph of the Regent Theatre dome sitting in a garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Rescued dome at Paddy Snowden's place, Brittan Street, Linwood".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 1817

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Regent Theatre dome sitting in a garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Rescued dome at Paddy Snowden's place, Brittan Street, Linwood".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 1815

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of the Regent Theatre dome sitting in a garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Rescued dome at Paddy Snowden's place, Brittan Street, Linwood".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 2726

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a house with an overgrown garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Wairoa Street".

Photograph by Paul Corliss 2727

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a house with an overgrown garden. The photograph is captioned by Paul Corliss, "Wairoa Street".

BeckerFraserPhotos April 2012 photograph 134

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The garden and seating area outside the Coffee Zone shack on Colombo Street. This was put together by the Greening the Rubble community project.

BeckerFraserPhotos April 2012 photograph 132

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Plant beds made out of corrugated iron, greening the empty building sites along Colombo Street. These were placed here by Greening the Rubble, a community project in Christchurch to create temporary public parks and gardens on the sites of demolished buildings.

Heavy metals in suburban gardens and the implications of land-use change f…

Research Papers, Lincoln University

Numerous studies have shown that urban soils can contain elevated concentrations of heavy metals (HMs). Christchurch, New Zealand, is a relatively young city (150 years old) with a population of 390,000. Most soils in Christchurch are sub-urban, with food production in residential gardens a popular activity. Earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 have resulted in the re-zoning of 630 ha of Christchurch, with suggestions that some of this land could be used for community gardens. We aimed to determine the HM concentrations in a selection of suburban gardens in Christchurch as well as in soils identified as being at risk of HM contamination due to hazardous former land uses or nearby activities. Heavy metal concentrations in suburban Christchurch garden soils were higher than normal background soil concentrations. Some 46% of the urban garden samples had Pb concentrations higher than the residential land use national standard of 210 mg kg⁻¹, with the most contaminated soil containing 2615 mg kg⁻¹ Pb. Concentrations of As and Zn exceeded the residential land use national standards (20 mg kg⁻¹ As and 400 mg kg⁻¹ Zn) in 20% of the soils. Older neighbourhoods had significantly higher soil HM concentrations than younger neighbourhoods. Neighbourhoods developed pre-1950s had a mean Pb concentration of 282 mg kg⁻¹ in their garden soils. Soil HM concentrations should be key criteria when determining the future land use of former residential areas that have been demolished because of the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Redeveloping these areas as parklands or forests would result in less human HM exposure than agriculture or community gardens where food is produced and bare soil is exposed.

WEMO ERT Set 4 - March 2011 - Photograph 11

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A photograph of a sign taped to a window. The sign includes a bullet pointed list of humorous observations about Christchurch following the February 2011 earthquake. The sign reads, "You know you're from Christchurch when: you use the term 'liquefaction' and 'seismic design' in casual conversation; digging a hole and shitting in your garden is no longer weird; your mayor describes the city as munted. If he means FUBARed, you agree; weaving through car size potholes on the street is no longer weird; a shower is heaven; you have a preference of which kind of silt you'd rather shovel, dry or wet; you see tanks...driving around town; you are always noting what you are under; due to frequent aftershocks during the night, you sleep like a baby - every 10 minutes you wake up and shit yourself".