This study followed two similarly affected, but socio-economically disparate suburbs as residents responded to and attempted to recover from the devastating 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, on February 22, 2011. More specifically, it focuses on the role of local churches, community-based organisations (CBOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), here referred to broadly as civil society, in meeting the immediate needs of local residents and assisting with the longer-term recovery of each neighbourhood. Despite considerable socioeconomic differences between the two neighbourhoods, civil society in both suburbs has been vital in addressing the needs of locals in the short and long term following the earthquake. Institutions were able to utilise local knowledge of both residents and the extent of damage in the area to a) provide a swifter local response than government or civil defence and then help direct the relief these agencies provided locally; b) set up central points for distribution of supplies and information where locals would naturally gather; c) take action on what were perceived to be unmet needs; and d) act as a way of bridging locals to a variety of material, informational, and emotional resources. However the findings also support literature which indicates that other factors are also important in understanding neighbourhood recovery and the role of civil society, including: local leadership; a shared, place-based identity; the type and form of civil society organizations; social capital; and neighbourhood- and household-level indicators of relative vulnerability and inequality. The intertwining of these various factors seems to influence how these neighbourhoods have coped with and taken steps in recovering from this disaster. It is recommended that future research be directed at developing a better understanding of how this occurs. It is suggested that a model similar to Yasui’s (2007) Community Vulnerability and Capacity model be developed as a useful way to approach future research in this area.
The lived reality of the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes and its implications for the Waimakariri District, a small but rapidly growing district (third tier of government in New Zealand) north of Christchurch, can illustrate how community well-being, community resilience, and community capitals interrelate in practice generating paradoxical results out of what can otherwise be conceived as a textbook ‘best practice’ case of earthquake recovery. The Waimakariri District Council’s integrated community based recovery framework designed and implemented post-earthquakes in the District was built upon strong political, social, and moral capital elements such as: inter-institutional integration and communication, participation, local knowledge, and social justice. This approach enabled very positive community outputs such as artistic community interventions of the urban environment and communal food forests amongst others. Yet, interests responding to broader economic and political processes (continuous central government interventions, insurance and reinsurance processes, changing socio-cultural patterns) produced a significant loss of community capitals (E.g.: social fragmentation, participation exhaustion, economic leakage, etc.) which simultaneously, despite local Council and community efforts, hindered community well-being in the long term. The story of the Waimakariri District helps understand how resilience governance operates in practice where multi-scalar, non-linear, paradoxical, dynamic, and uncertain outcomes appear to be the norm that underpins the construction of equitable, transformative, and sustainable pathways towards the future.
Under the framework of New Public Management, the government has decentralised the responsibility for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) to regional, local, and community levels in New Zealand. This decentralisation serves political agendas related to resource allocation and is supported by empirical evidence suggesting that involving communities in DRM during recovery decision-making enhances disaster resilience. Extensive evidence indicates that community participation in DRM, especially during recovery decision-making, can significantly improve recovery outcomes at the community level. However, there has been limited research into whether the legal framework in New Zealand effectively facilitates meaningful public engagement to empower the public in influencing disaster recovery decisions. To address this gap in the literature, this thesis aims to explore the extent to which legislative and governance arrangements transfer the responsibility, liability, and costs of managing disaster risks to local levels without enabling meaningful public contribution to and influence on recovery decisions affecting them. Situated within Public Law and Disaster Risk and Resilience disciplines and using a case study of Greater Christchurch, New Zealand, this interdisciplinary thesis examines both common law and statutory provisions in the legal framework impacting public engagement before and during recovery from the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. In particular, this thesis assesses how legislative, and governance frameworks influenced communities’ ability to influence recovery decision-making following the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES). This thesis shows that before the CES, the New Zealand public engagement system closely adhered to the common law principle of the ‘duty to consult’, which remains the current legal standard. This principle required decision-makers to use the 'public notice and comment' approach as a minimum, limiting meaningful community participation in decision-making. After the earthquakes, reliance on this traditional approach caused growing frustration and division locally, as the public struggled to effectively engage in and influence recovery decisions, resulting in new community activism. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act (CER Act), introduced following the Christchurch Earthquake, included innovative provisions on public engagement. However, for various reasons, this Act appeared to have minimal impact on meaningful public engagement in recovery decision-making, which continued to align with the broader, existing public engagement system and associated norms. The empirical findings indicate that despite the novel legislative language, the traditional public engagement framework in New Zealand constrained effective engagement, leading to a broader erosion of trust between the public and the government. This was largely attributed to the default ‘public notice and comment’ approach at the local government level, with inadequate mechanisms for community engagement in central government decision-making shaping the expectations of recovery decision-makers still operating within this framework. Notable departures from this traditional approach were evident in the practices of the Waimakariri District Council and Christchurch City Council. Particularly noteworthy was the ‘Share an Idea’ public engagement campaign. Unlike conventional processes, it did not commence with a near-final or draft document. Instead, it utilised participatory mechanisms that fostered meaningful dialogue, enabling the public to significantly shape the content of the draft Christchurch Central Recovery Plan. The initial success of such participatory engagement underscores its potential effectiveness throughout the entire recovery planning process, an option that was not exercised by the central government. In conclusion, this thesis argues that New Zealand should move beyond the entrenched ‘public notice and comment’ approach and adopt more open and inclusive public participation mechanisms. It contends that supplementing this approach with proactive participatory methods before disasters could yield favorable outcomes during disaster recovery, thereby ensuring meaningful public involvement in future decisions that affect communities.
There are many things that organisations of any size can do to prepare for a disaster or crisis. Traditionally, the advice given to business has focused on identifying risks, reducing their likely occurrence, and planning in advance how to respond. More recently, there is growing interest in the broader concept of organisational resilience which includes planning for crisis but also considers traits that lead to organisational adaptability and ability to thrive despite adverse circumstances. In this paper we examine the policy frameworks1 within New Zealand that influence the resilience of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). The first part of the paper focuses on the New Zealand context, including the prevailing political and economic ideologies, the general nature of New Zealand SMEs and the nature of New Zealand’s hazard environment. The paper then goes on to outline the key policy frameworks in place relevant to SMEs and hazards. The final part of the paper examines the way the preexisting policy environment influenced the response of SMEs and Government following the Canterbury earthquakes.
In September 2010 and February 2011, the Canterbury region experienced devastating earthquakes with an estimated economic cost of over NZ$40 billion (Parker and Steenkamp, 2012; Timar et al., 2014; Potter et al., 2015). The insurance market played an important role in rebuilding the Canterbury region after the earthquakes. Homeowners, insurance and reinsurance markets and New Zealand government agencies faced a difficult task to manage the rebuild process. From an empirical and theoretic research viewpoint, the Christchurch disaster calls for an assessment of how the insurance market deals with such disasters in the future. Previous studies have investigated market responses to losses in global catastrophes by focusing on the insurance supply-side. This study investigates both demand-side and supply-side insurance market responses to the Christchurch earthquakes. Despite the fact that New Zealand is prone to seismic activities, there are scant previous studies in the area of earthquake insurance. This study does offer a unique opportunity to examine and document the New Zealand insurance market response to catastrophe risk, providing results critical for understanding market responses after major loss events in general. A review of previous studies shows higher premiums suppress demand, but how higher premiums and a higher probability of risk affect demand is still largely unknown. According to previous studies, the supply of disaster coverage is curtailed unless the market is subsidised, however, there is still unsettled discussion on why demand decreases with time from the previous disaster even when the supply of coverage is subsidised by the government. Natural disaster risks pose a set of challenges for insurance market players because of substantial ambiguity associated with the probability of such events occurring and high spatial correlation of catastrophe losses. Private insurance market inefficiencies due to high premiums and spatially concentrated risks calls for government intervention in the provision of natural disaster insurance to avert situations of noninsurance and underinsurance. Political economy considerations make it more likely for government support to be called for if many people are uninsured than if few people are uninsured. However, emergency assistance for property owners after catastrophe events can encourage most property owners to not buy insurance against natural disaster and develop adverse selection behaviour, generating larger future risks for homeowners and governments. On the demand-side, this study has developed an intertemporal model to examine how demand for insurance changes post-catastrophe, and how to model it theoretically. In this intertemporal model, insurance can be sought in two sequential periods of time, and at the second period, it is known whether or not a loss event happened in period one. The results show that period one demand for insurance increases relative to the standard single period model when the second period is taken into consideration, period two insurance demand is higher post-loss, higher than both the period one demand and the period two demand without a period one loss. To investigate policyholders experience from the demand-side perspective, a total of 1600 survey questionnaires were administered, and responses from 254 participants received representing a 16 percent response rate. Survey data was gathered from four institutions in Canterbury and is probably not representative of the entire population. The results of the survey show that the change from full replacement value policy to nominated replacement value policy is a key determinant of the direction of change in the level of insurance coverage after the earthquakes. The earthquakes also highlighted the plight of those who were underinsured, prompting policyholders to update their insurance coverage to reflect the estimated cost of re-building their property. The survey has added further evidence to the existing literature, such as those who have had a recent experience with disaster loss report increased risk perception if a similar event happens in future with females reporting a higher risk perception than males. Of the demographic variables, only gender has a relationship with changes in household cover. On the supply-side, this study has built a risk-based pricing model suitable to generate a competitive premium rate for natural disaster insurance cover. Using illustrative data from the Christchurch Red-zone suburbs, the model generates competitive premium rates for catastrophe risk. When the proposed model incorporates the new RMS high-definition New Zealand Earthquake Model, for example, insurers can find the model useful to identify losses at a granular level so as to calculate the competitive premium. This study observes that the key to the success of the New Zealand dual insurance system despite the high prevalence of catastrophe losses are; firstly the EQC’s flat-rate pricing structure keeps private insurance premiums affordable and very high nationwide homeowner take-up rates of natural disaster insurance. Secondly, private insurers and the EQC have an elaborate reinsurance arrangement in place. By efficiently transferring risk to the reinsurer, the cost of writing primary insurance is considerably reduced ultimately expanding primary insurance capacity and supply of insurance coverage.
From small coastal settlements to large cities, communities are exposed to both the direct and indirect consequences of climate-change induced sea-level rise (SLR). Above the ground surface, short- and long-term coastal effects of SLR are visible and cause damage from flooding, erosion, and loss of habitats and ecosystems. Below the ground surface, the effects are less visible but nonetheless extensive. Groundwater is present at shallow depth in the coastal zone and the effects of SLR on shallow groundwater threaten water security, agricultural production and infrastructure. Groundwater flooding, a hydrological hazard results from the process of water table rise, where the groundwater surface intersects or goes above the land surface due to changing conditions. The coastal zone is a complex dynamic space between saltwater and freshwater environments above and below the ground surface, and coastal groundwater hazards are intensified due to SLR. However, current monitoring of coastal shallow groundwater levels and salinity does not occur sufficiently to mitigate and adapt to the groundwater hazard. This thesis provides insights into the dynamics of coastal shallow groundwater, urban monitoring networks, simulations of water table rise and the issues posed by shallow groundwater changes driven by SLR and effects on flooding. The first study reviewed processes of coastal groundwater rise and simulation tools used to evaluate possible impacts of SLR. The benefits and limitations of the two main methods to assess coastal groundwater rise and its contribution to flooding - spatial interpolation and numerical tools - were discussed. The review highlighted the need for methodology comparisons between spatial interpolation and numerical tools to guide future work. The simulation tools that are used to evaluate changes in urban hydrogeology due to SLR do not specifically estimate groundwater flooding. Current monitoring practices do not capture evidence for groundwater rise with SLR. Therefore, the assessment methods need to rely on improved coastal groundwater monitoring networks focused on water quality, saltwater intrusion, and continuous groundwater levels records near the coastline, tidally influenced surface water bodies, and critical infrastructure. The second study focused on an urban shallow groundwater monitoring network and assessed its development, current physical condition and usefulness for SLR research. Following the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, in Otautahi Christchurch, ¯ Aotearoa New Zealand, shallow groundwater data acquisition and establishment of a geotechnical database provided unprecedented information on subsurface conditions. The monitoring infrastructure provided high spatio-temporal resolution records of shallow groundwater levels, which opened the field of New Zealand-based urban groundwater studies. Field surveys and digital information reviews showed that the monitoring net work was in overall good condition and robust, despite some maintenance issues. The dataset held by the city and regional councils should be more widely used to benefit the community, urban water management, researchers and practitioners, facing decisions to adapt and protect coastal areas from the impacts of climate change and SLR. The third study determined characteristics of shallow groundwater, including spatial and temporal trends in depths to groundwater and their relationship to natural and an thropogenic stressors. The study used depth to groundwater measurements from the uniquely extensive and densely spaced monitoring network in Otautahi Christchurch, ¯ Aotearoa New Zealand. Data-driven analysis approaches were applied, including spa tial interpolation, autocorrelation, clustering, cross-correlation, and trend analysis. This comprehensive approach revealed discernible clusters and trends within the dataset, pro viding valuable insights into the spatial and temporal variability of shallow groundwater in urban coastal settings. Responses to stresses such as rainfall events and stream flow were successfully classified using clustering analysis, while anthropogenic influences were more challenging. The primary feature in hydrograph classification proved to be the prox imity to tidal rivers and their correlation with tidal signals. This study highlighted the importance of monitoring coastal groundwater and the need for a better understanding of its effects on urban infrastructure and the built environment. The fourth study focused on simulating the effects of SLR on water table rise. These processes may lead to groundwater flooding and infrastructure challenges. A numerical model was used to assess the transient water table movement in response to SLR. Various SLR scenarios and rates were used to simulate the magnitudes and rates of water table rise, considering a range of aquifer parameters for both fixed-head and fixed-flux inland boundary conditions. The magnitudes and rates of water table rise were always less than but proportional to SLR and decreased with distance from the coastline. The magnitude and rate of water table rise in response to SLR were the largest for fixed flux inland boundary conditions, but it takes a long time for conditions to equilibrate. Fixed-flux conditions were found to pose a greater hazard as the maximum impact may not be experienced for decades, posing challenges to planners and managers of coastal groundwater systems. Adding a drain reduced the magnitude and rate of water table rise, more on the inland side than on the coastal side. The final study examined the key impacts of SLR on coastal shallow groundwater, and subsequent challenges faced by infrastructure asset managers. The study showed that current and future issues such as saltwater intrusion, flooding, and earthquake liquefaction hazard due to groundwater are exacerbated by climate change-driven SLR. A key issue is determining who will take responsibility for shallow groundwater management in areas with multiple and overlapping local government jurisdictions. Another key finding is that current techniques to manage groundwater in infrastructure construction/operation and land management will be applied in future, and challenges to coastal infrastructure adaptation will be posed by political and economic considerations rather than technical understanding.
