Christchurch, New Zealand, post quake

[PeopleSpace]

I would like to provoke some discussion here on what the possibilities are for Christchurch NZ after our disastrous quake.As a starting point: How can we feasibly make the city better, while trying to keep the economics of a devastated city functioning?

Estimates are half to 1/3 of commercial buildings in the CBD are gone.

Can we really counter the draining effects the suburban malls were already having on our CBD when it now needs so much work and will not be functioning for some time?
How much retail is too much for a thinly spread city population of 400,000? Christchurch urban (non rural) area is 19,500 hectares.

And then there are the issues of lost neighbourhood retail areas, many of which were in old brick buildings. These were often marginal businesses that need low rentals.

[JNL]

This was interesting to read:

The location and scale of potential faults under the Canterbury Plains must be understood before Christchurch pours billions of dollars into rebuilding, says a geologist.

Both the September earthquake and last week's deadly tremor occurred on faultlines that did not exist on GNS Science's database.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10709841

I think it will be challenging to balance the need to move quickly to begin rebuilding and getting shops and services up and running again, keeping morale up etc, with the need to plan for a central city that will set Christchurch up well for the future and be an attractive place to visit. So many special heritage buildings were lost and I would hate to see utilitarian boxes spring up in their place - however I suppose in the short to medium term, there may be a need to focus on functionality.

[The One]

I would like to provoke some discussion here on what the possibilities are for Christchurch NZ after our disastrous quake.As a starting point: How can we feasibly make the city better, while trying to keep the economics of a devastated city functioning?

Estimates are half to 1/3 of commercial buildings in the CBD are gone.

Can we really counter the draining effects the suburban malls were already having on our CBD when it now needs so much work and will not be functioning for some time?
How much retail is too much for a thinly spread city population of 400,000? Christchurch urban (non rural) area is 19,500 hectares.

And then there are the issues of lost neighbourhood retail areas, many of which were in old brick buildings. These were often marginal businesses that need low rentals.

Good grief, I didn't realized Christchuch covers 7,709,695.5 square rods
Asside from the tragedy of the earthquake, I was just thinking how fullfilling it could be working in Christchurch over the next few years, helping to guide re-development. I like challenges and would love to help them out down there. Maybe I can interview for a high level planning job while I'm there in June/July this year?

[JNL]

Maybe I can interview for a high level planning job while I'm there in June/July this year?

Could you live with aftershocks that may continue for over a year? A lot of people are moving away - they have had enough of the stress and anxiety. But I agree - it could be very rewarding being involved.

[Cardinal]

A similar situation arose in the Gulf states following Hurricane Katrina. In some devastated communities, businesses reopened in tents and temporary shelters at their former sites. Many adjusted their merchandise to reflect items people would need in reconstruction. It helps if government relief functions are in the same area to help draw traffic.

[natski]

Good grief, I didn't realized Christchuch covers 7,709,695.5 square rods
Asside from the tragedy of the earthquake, I was just thinking how fullfilling it could be working in Christchurch over the next few years, helping to guide re-development. I like challenges and would love to help them out down there. Maybe I can interview for a high level planning job while I'm there in June/July this year?

I was thinking exactly the same thing last week (about working there that is)

[Mike Rogue]

A similar situation arose in the Gulf states following Hurricane Katrina. In some devastated communities, businesses reopened in tents and temporary shelters at their former sites. Many adjusted their merchandise to reflect items people would need in reconstruction. It helps if government relief functions are in the same area to help draw traffic.

I was also thinking about the connection to fate of New Orleans and specifically the Lower Ninth Ward. I have been travelling to the region for the past two years and one of the most notable aspects of the reconstruction process has been the incredible amount of creativity that people are beginning to employ.

The federal government has not rebuilt the infrastructure sufficient to protect the area from another catastrophic flood, but people are still moving back to the neighborhood and the city at large. One particular urban farm in the Ninth Ward is working to bring good food to the neighborhood and to also develop the collective knowledge of the community so that the residents will be able to replant if and when the next time the neighborhood is flooded.

[The One]

Could you live with aftershocks that may continue for over a year? A lot of people are moving away - they have had enough of the stress and anxiety. But I agree - it could be very rewarding being involved.

I spent three years in South Florida and was impacted by five hurricanes (one direct hit) and several storms. The rewards would outweigh the cons in my mind.

[Cismontane]

I spent three years in South Florida and was impacted by five hurricanes (one direct hit) and several storms. The rewards would outweigh the cons in my mind.

I'm from Southern California, where we are genetically programmed to wait for the Big One (pun intended). My ancestors have been waiting for it for nearly a century, since the last one in San Fran (in which they reportedly lost everything). Still nothing. We do take some comfort from the fact the most miserable city in America per AOL (i.e., El Centro) is probably also the most vulnerable.

FYI, since somebody at work keeps on bringing up ridiculous pre-metric units of measures such as British Thermal Units and I'm on the warpath, I thought I'd ask, square rods???? where did that come from?

[daftduck]

add no retail buildings, let the people figure out ways to sell. Have no retail. It's better this way than having venta al por menor.

[ColoGI]

I was thinking exactly the same thing last week (about working there that is)

If only to prevent what happened in NOLA to non-conservatives - just that in itself would be rewarding.

[JNL]

Another update on rebuilding:

The land in some parts of Christchurch is so badly damaged entire streets and even neighbourhoods may be abandoned completely

.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10710820

[JJGrim]

One opportunity that I think Is often overlooked when large scale destruction happens is to re-examine the street layout/ pattern and it's function. As well as property lines and parcel sizes. This is of course a double edged sword. On one hand one might be liberated from restrictively small lot or block sizes when it comes to organizing large scale projects, such as public spaces or civic centers or re-orienting streets for sight lines and/or connectivity. The flip side is that developers could sweep in and buy up large swaths of the area at bargain basement prices and build large scale developments that would put the land to use quickly but may not be the best for the city in the long term. After the 1666 London fire there was the opportunity to re-layout the entire street grid, these plans were scrapped in the face of protracted quarrellings about vested property rights and confusion about how it would all pan out for thousands of property owners who had no insurance and had no real idea about the value of their land. And the city of London still has a very interesting street network as a result, basically improved donkey trails.

One interesting thought I had when thinking about re-centering our cities was to take some of the space in need of re-building and move structures from the surrounding low density development into the middle of the city, this does not work with all types of structures, but with small to medium sized wood framed structures it is possible. Simultaneously bringing things back into the center and allowing for a diversity of structures in the (eventually) revived downtown. Hopefully with seismic upgrades in the process.

[theplanningboardroom]

A friend of mine suggested I read an article about a building scheme that encourages refurbishing apartment buildings to withstand earthquakes. Both the residents and the developer benefit.

The developer can build an additional level and use the income from selling off the new units to cover the costs of the renovations, while also gaining some profit.

The residents benefit by not paying any costs associated with the renovations, while also living in a building capable of withstanding earthquakes. Obviously there's no guarantee the building won't be destroyed, but it still helps.

Here is an article worth reading which illustrates this scheme in practice;

http://www.theplanningboardroom.net/...shaky-tenants/

[JusticeZero]

I'm a big believer in transportation infrastructure as a driver of urban form. Decide on a few focal areas, and run rail and the like into them. Rail in particular raises property values because it assures investors that there will be lots of people getting off at the rail stations for a long long time. They won't be 'adapted' away. Make sure that you use words like "Streetcar". Planners love "Light Rail" and are more ambivalent about "Streetcars"; the people in the city, though, have romantic ideas about streetcars. Talk about "Light Rail" to someone who isn't a planner and doesn't live in a city heavily served by rail already, and you will only see glazed eyes and confused distrust.

Clean and pretty up any destruction. If lots are obliterated in your focal areas, clear them, cover them up, and put grass and such in. The lots are open for development, but in the meanwhile, they're just lots - but that doesn't mean they need to be ugly lots that discourage investment.

Remove your parking minimums. Parking costs lots of money that investors don't like to spend, and use up land that you'd rather see put to good use. If anything, put in parking maximums - small ones.

[JusticeZero]

So what's this I hear about you folks reducing your traffic capacity by removing your bike lanes? Given the trends in fuel prices, that seems a bit like setting a time bomb, lighting it off, and keeping it in your shoe.

[PeopleSpace]

There have been some temporarily lost cycle lanes in Christchurch. Some, because buildings being demolished encroach into the street, but others are because the traffic patterns have been disrupted and some roads are carrying a lot more traffic than they did..
And yes, it is short-sighted.

[JusticeZero]

People underestimate the adaptability of people to road capacity changes. In Anchorage here, there is one intersection (Lake Otis and Tudor) which due to an accident of geography manages to carry about 80% of the vehicles in the city over the course of a day.
Last summer, the city tore the whole intersection out and replaced it yet again with an upgraded and enhanced intersection to carry the huge amounts of traffic.
Notably, during the weeks where the entire intersection was offline, the traffic disruption in other parts of the city was virtually nil. While I haven't got the traffic counts, I was biking all over the area and none of the other intersections or areas that I saw showed any sign of overloading from shifts in usage.
Virtually everything I have seen so far leads me to believe that transportation is NOT, as had been thought before, a function of land use; rather, land use is a function of transportation, and transportation is far more flexible than people believe it to be.