Matthewman, SGoode, L2022-05-162022-05-162020-12-01(2020). New Zealand Sociology, 35(2), 77-98.0112-921Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/2292/59257The 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.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm1608 SociologyJournal Article2022-04-10Copyright: The authorhttp://purl.org/eprint/accessRights/RestrictedAccess1173-1036