City of quakes: Excavating the future in christchurch

Abstract

The Canterbury earthquakes created the biggest urban renewal project in this country’s history. Consequently, our oldest city— Christchurch—is also now our newest. Though primarily a tragedy, the earthquakes provided an opportunity to ‘build back better’. Amongst other things, there were aspirations to live in a smart, magnet, future-proof and post-colonial city. While the first three of these futures have collapsed and the latter is emergent, other futures have been accelerated. Christchurch has had a first-hand preview of what a warming world will be like. It is host to several environmental hazards and has already had to reckon with managed retreat. For this reason, its experiences serve as a laboratory for an urban future facing unprecedented ecological pressures. Christchurch is often labelled as a textbook case in how not to build back better and its location additionally guarantees future disasters. All the same, we conclude with some resources for hope.