Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel was born and raised in the city she now represents. But it’s hard for him to describe how he’s changed since the earthquake.
“I don’t know if it’s a post-disaster thing,” says Dalziel. “But for me, sometimes it’s hard to remember what was there before.”
Many residents of Christchurch say the same thing. Their house has undergone a huge transformation in the last 10 years after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed 185 people, disrupted tens of thousands of lives and reduced 80% of the city center to rubble.
Today, the streets of Christchurch are full of life, after a period of sustained construction: first, the commercial development of glass-clad office blocks and luxury retail space – and then civic and cultural buildings, which have have either been restored or replaced.
Christchurch Basilica, Barbadoes Street
Although reconstruction is underway, the traces of destruction – broken fenced buildings and expanses of land the size of sports grounds planned for development – are more likely to be noticed by tourists than by locals, who know how far the city has come.
“From time to time I get to see the city through the eyes of people who have been visiting here for the first time in a long time and I hear their enthusiasm about … what is happening,” says Dalziel.
Latimer Square, Christchurch
After 10 years, Christchurch is no longer primarily a city affected by the earthquake – but progress to this point has been slow and hard-won. In 2013, the cost of recovery was set at $ 40 billion; it was probably more.
Asked about the missed opportunities for reconstruction, Dalziel laughs. “How long have you been here?”
Emphasizing the advantage of the retrospective, Dalizel – who was elected in October 2013, almost three years after the earthquake – says the agencies could have been better aligned.
For example, individual telecommunications and electricity companies have taken different approaches to repairing damaged board infrastructure, which means that the same roads have been dug up many times.
Lincoln Road, Addington, Christchurch
These lessons from the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) have been made available to the public for the benefit of other cities facing post-disaster reconstruction, says Dalziel.
But the defining problem of reconstruction was the relationship between local and national government.
On 1 May 2011, the national government set up the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera), a public service bureaucracy with extensive powers to guide its response to recovery – including local authorities.
Cera’s approach has led to widespread dissatisfaction, with both the council and residents feeling marginalized.
Dalziel suggests that the central government and the council could instead have set up an independent entity to work together, appointing directors to be accountable to both.
Gloucester Street
Gloucester Street
In April 2012, a Cera unit took over responsibility for rebuilding the central city, carrying out its own version of the council’s draft recovery plan – which became known as the “plan”.
It was based on dedicated sections such as innovation, health and the performing arts; and “anchoring projects” which would hopefully encourage organic investment. (One, for a “sustainable village,” was finally abandoned last week.)
But local knowledge from the council’s public consultation has been lost, says Dalziel. The plan “did not belong to the city; he was a creature of the government. ” The wax itself was abolished in 2016.
Meanwhile, the council approached the task of a new central library, Tūranga, with a particular focus on community engagement: the suggestion of a “Harry Potter scale” resident was reflected in the finished building, which opened in October 2018.
Central Library
It is widely considered one of the triumphs of reconstruction, frequented by a large section of Christchurch’s population – often indicative of genuine attention to diversity and inclusion in the design process.
This type of civic mentality seemed absent in the first buildings that appeared after the earthquake, stimulated by private investments. For a time, Christchurch city center was dominated by small commercial glass and steel developments, such as the Deloitte and PWC buildings.
Hundreds of heritage buildings have been lost – either by an earthquake or by demolition to get through it.
The Edwardian City Hall and Theater from the Edwardian era have been restored and reopened; but demolition of Christchurch Basilica, which first opened in 1905, began only in December. (The construction of its replacement was delayed by rare seagulls nesting on Armagh St. website)
Armagh St.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Center, Armagh St.
The city’s cultural renewal has been driven by popular groups such as Greening the Rubble, Gap Filler and Agropolis, which have set up small, often temporary “soft infrastructure” projects to revitalize the city at street and human level.
A community dance ring operated with coins, open-air gardens and other manifestations of the “ingenuity of its resilient residents” was highlighted by the New York Times, naming Christchurch the second best place to travel in 2014. It was selected from new in the last year.
Gap Filler is now a partner in a major residential project, led by Fletcher Living, covering six city center blocks.
Manchester St
Manchester St
The development of One Central is key to the plan’s offer to increase the residential population in central Christchurch – but sales have started slowly, which has raised concerns that construction could exceed demand.
Talk about the evolving challenge of rebuilding. Central Christchurch is unrecognizable from the area of the disaster it was in after the earthquake and has changed significantly from how it was five years ago. And the city he has yet to make is still developing.
Cathedral
Cathedral
No matter what has been built so far, Dalziel says, “We are absolutely the best city for the future … From every disaster, any crisis, there are always opportunities – Christchurch has all its opportunities ahead of us, and people can see now. ”
For her, the new Christchurch is most evident along the banks of the River Avon: home to the new Riverside inner market, an independent theater and a new hospitality development.
“If I walk on a summer evening, it’s just full of people: in bars and restaurants, family groups, walks and cycling – it has this happy feeling … You never want to go back the same way it was. “