Leanne Curtis is a Canterbury Communities' Earthquake Recovery Network board member and Peter Townsend is the chief executive of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce.
The creation of a new unit within the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority to oversee the rebuilding of central Christchurch is being welcomed by business leaders.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch begins the slow recovery process after last weeks devastating 7.1 earthquake. Members of the Red Cross pictured in Kaipoi".
This study explores the impact post-earthquake images from Christchurch, New Zealand inserted into a task requiring sustained attention or vigilance have on performance, selfreports of task-focus, and cerebra activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The images represent the current state of Christchurch; a city struggling to recover from devastating earthquakes that peaked in February, 2011, killing 185 people, injuring hundreds more and causing widespread and massive damage to infrastructure, land and building in the region. Crowdsourcing was used to gather a series of positive and negative photos from greater Christchurch to be employed in the subsequent experiment. Seventy-one Christchurch resident participants (51 women, 20 men) then took part in a vigilance task with the sourced images embedded to assess possible cognitive disruptions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: embedded positive pictures, embedded negative pictures, or embedded scrambled image controls. Task performance was assessed with signal detection theory metrics of sensitivity A’ and β’’. Individuals viewing the positive images, relating to progress, rebuild, or aesthetic aspects within the city, were overall more conservative or less willing to respond than those in the other conditions. In addition, positive condition individuals reported lower task focus, when compared to those in the control condition. However, indicators of cerebral activity (fNIRS) did not differ significantly between the experimental groups. These results combined, suggest that mind wandering events may be being generated when exposed to positive post-earthquake images. This finding fits with recent research which indicates that mind-wandering or day dreaming tends to be positive and future oriented. While positive recovery images may initiate internal thoughts, this could actually prove problematic in contexts in which external attention is required. While the actual environment, of course, needs to recover, support agencies may want to be careful with employing positive recovery imagery in contexts where people actually should be paying attention to something else, like operating a vehicle or machinery.
There has not been substantial research conducted in the area of fraud and natural disasters. Therefore, this study sought to examine the perceptions of Canterbury residents toward the recovery process following the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes and whether residents felt as though contractor fraud occurs in Canterbury. A questionnaire was developed to gauge information about Canterbury residents’ self-reports involving the earthquakes, specific contractors involved, parties involved with the recovery process in general, and demographic information. Participants included a total of 213 residents from the Canterbury region who had been involved with contractors and/or insurance companies due to the recovery process. Results indicated that a high percentage of the participants were not satisfied with the recovery process and that almost half of the participants reported feeling scammed by contractors in Canterbury after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Moreover, the results indicate that participants neither agreed with the assessments made about their property losses nor the plans made to recover their properties. In many cases, participants felt pressured and even reluctant to accept these assessments and/or plans. The present study does not seek to explain why contractor fraud exists or what motivates scammers. Conversely, it attempts to demonstrate the perceptions of contractor fraud and satisfaction that have taken place in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes.
An infographic showing planned changes to transport in the central city.
A map showing proposed public transport routes in the central city.
The Canterbury Communities' Earthquake Recovery Network or CanCERN represents dozens of residents' associations and community groups. Tom McBrearty is chairman, whose own house has been badly affected.
Bronze award recipient, Rachel Linehan, from Hamilton. Pictured here with Prime Minister John Key, Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr, and Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee.
Bronze award recipient, Rachel Linehan, from Hamilton. Pictured here with Prime Minister John Key, Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr, and Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee.
Two former Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority officials attempted to use their positions for their own financial gain and their actions will now be referred to the Serious Fraud Office.
As for the demolition of the building, The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority deconstruction manager, Warwick Isaacs, says while it will be managed carefully, it is still risky.
A story submitted by Ginny Larsen to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Sarah to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Paul Murray to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Mike Will to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A sign on the fence cordoning off High Street. It reads "Month 1, Month 2, Month 3, Month 4, Month 5, Month 6. When is the recovery starting?
Shows flowers at the Ellerslie Flowershow that represent various politicians. They are (from left) Mayor Bob Parker, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) chief executive Roger Sutton, Gerry Brownlee Minister of Earthquake recovery, Tony Marryatt, the Christchurch council chief executive, former Nelson mayor Kerry Marshall appointed Crown observer to oversee city council issues, Christchurch City Councillor Aaron Keown, and Deputy Mayor Ngaire Button. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
A video of Hon. Nicky Wagner, Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, Hon. Lianne Dalziel, Mayor of Christchurch, and Peter Townsend, CEO of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce, responding to questions from the floor during a panel at the 2016 Seismics in the City Conference. The panel has three themes:A City on the Move: Collaboration and Regeneration: "'Christchurch is now moving rapidly from the recovery phase into a regeneration stage with Central and Local Government working with the wider community, including the business community to ensure we get optimal outcomes for greater Christchurch' (CECC)."Looking Back: Remembering and Learning: "What are the milestones? What are the millstones? What have we learnt? What have we applied?"Looking Forward: Visioning and Building: "What do we aspire to? What are the roadblocks? What is the way forward?"
A poster created by Empowered Christchurch to advertise their submission to the CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan on social media.The poster reads, "Submission, CERA Draft Transition Recovery Plan. Risk Acceptance. It is the role of insurance companies, the EQC included, to accept the risks covered under their terms of reference/policies and compensate policyholders when such risks eventuate. However, many policyholders in Christchurch have not been compensated for the damage to their homes and their lives. These responsibilities need to be faced by the entities responsible. An equitable solution needs to be found for properties with hazards such as flooding that are a direct result of the earthquakes. In tandem with this, every effort must be made to protect residents from the risks posed by climate change. We need a city that is driven by the people that live in it, and enabled by a bureaucracy that accepts and mitigates risks, rather than transferring them to the most vulnerable residents".
Responsibility for dealing with the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake could pass from Civil Defence to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority within a matter of days.
Website of the St Albans Residents Association Incorporated (SARA), dedicated to the recovery of St Albans and its city, Christchurch after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority says the language describing building safety is unhelpful and is worrying people needlessly. The Authority's CEO, Roger Sutton, joins the programme.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Christchurch begins the slow recovery process after last weeks devastating 7.1 earthquake. Linton Gray, owner of a submerged property in Kaipoi".
The increase of the world's population located near areas prone to natural disasters has given rise to new ‘mega risks’; the rebuild after disasters will test the governments’ capabilities to provide appropriate responses to protect the people and businesses. During the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes (2010-2012) that destroyed much of the inner city, the government of New Zealand set up a new partnership between the public and private sector to rebuild the city’s infrastructure. The new alliance, called SCIRT, used traditional risk management methods in the many construction projects. And, in hindsight, this was seen as one of the causes for some of the unanticipated problems. This study investigated the risk management practices in the post-disaster recovery to produce a specific risk management model that can be used effectively during future post-disaster situations. The aim was to develop a risk management guideline for more integrated risk management and fill the gap that arises when the traditional risk management framework is used in post-disaster situations. The study used the SCIRT alliance as a case study. The findings of the study are based on time and financial data from 100 rebuild projects, and from surveying and interviewing risk management professionals connected to the infrastructure recovery programme. The study focussed on post-disaster risk management in construction as a whole. It took into consideration the changes that happened to the people, the work and the environment due to the disaster. System thinking, and system dynamics techniques have been used due to the complexity of the recovery and to minimise the effect of unforeseen consequences. Based on an extensive literature review, the following methods were used to produce the model. The analytical hierarchical process and the relative importance index have been used to identify the critical risks inside the recovery project. System theory methods and quantitative graph theory have been used to investigate the dynamics of risks between the different management levels. Qualitative comparative analysis has been used to explore the critical success factors. And finally, causal loop diagrams combined with the grounded theory approach has been used to develop the model itself. The study identified that inexperienced staff, low management competency, poor communication, scope uncertainty, and non-alignment of the timing of strategic decisions with schedule demands, were the key risk factors in recovery projects. Among the critical risk groups, it was found that at a strategic management level, financial risks attracted the highest level of interest, as the client needs to secure funding. At both alliance-management and alliance-execution levels, the safety and environmental risks were given top priority due to a combination of high levels of emotional, reputational and media stresses. Risks arising from a lack of resources combined with the high volume of work and the concern that the cost could go out of control, alongside the aforementioned funding issues encouraged the client to create the recovery alliance model with large reputable construction organisations to lock in the recovery cost, at a time when the scope was still uncertain. This study found that building trust between all parties, clearer communication and a constant interactive flow of information, established a more working environment. Competent and clear allocation of risk management responsibilities, cultural shift, risk prioritisation, and staff training were crucial factors. Finally, the post-disaster risk management (PDRM) model can be described as an integrated risk management model that considers how the changes which happened to the environment, the people and their work, caused them to think differently to ease the complexity of the recovery projects. The model should be used as a guideline for recovery systems, especially after an earthquake, looking in detail at all the attributes and the concepts, which influence the risk management for more effective PDRM. The PDRM model is represented in Causal Loops Diagrams (CLD) in Figure 8.31 and based on 10 principles (Figure 8.32) and 26 concepts (Table 8.1) with its attributes.
A map showing proposed cycling and walking routes in the central city.
Bronze award present to Matthew Prendergast and Thomas Nation, both from Christchurch. Pictured here with Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr, and Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee.
Silver Award presented to Henry Jenkins, originally from Blenheim. Pictured here with Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr, Prime Minister John Key and Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlee.
An incomplete graphic listing revelations from a book written by Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker.