Organisations locate strategically within Business Districts (CBDs) in order to cultivate their image, increase their profile, and improve access to customers, suppliers, and services. While CBDs offer an economic benefit to organisations, they also present a unique set of hazard vulnerabilities and planning challenges for businesses. As of May 2012, the Christchurch CBD has been partially cordoned off for over 14 months. Economic activity within the cordoned CBD, which previously contained 6,000 businesses and over 51,000 workers, has been significantly diminished and organisations have been forced to find new ways of operating. The vulnerabilities and resilience of CBDs not only influences outcomes for CBD organisations, but also the broader interconnected (urban/regional/national) system. A CBD is a hub of economic, social, and built infrastructure within a network of links and nodes. When the hub is disrupted all of the people, objects, and transactions that usually flow into and out of the hub must be redirected elsewhere. In an urban situation this means traffic jams in peripheries of the city, increased prices of commercial property, and capital flight; all of which are currently being faced in Canterbury. This report presents the lessons learned from organisations in CBDs affected by the Canterbury earthquakes. Here we focus on the Christchurch CBD; however, several urban town centres were extensively disrupted by the earthquakes. The statistics and discussion presented in this report are based on the results of an ongoing study conducted by Resilient Organisations (www.resorgs.org.nz). The data was captured using two questionnaire surveys of Canterbury organisations (issued November 2010 and May 2011), interviews with key informants, and in-depth case studies of organisations. Several industry sectors were sampled, and geographic samples of organisations in the Christchurch CBD, Lyttelton, and the Kaiapoi town centre were also collected. Results in this report describing “non-CBD organisations” refer to all organisations outside of the Christchurch CBD, Lyttelton, and Kaiapoi town centres.
Overgrown flowers in the CBD.
Overgrown flowers in the CBD.
The Minister for Earthquake Recovery, Gerry Brownlee, is due to give the government's response to the Christchurch City Council's draft central city plan tomorrow.
An electrical substation building in the CBD.
A fence being repainted in the CBD.
A digitally manipulated image of a black truck parked outside the Bus Exchange building on Colombo Street. The photographer comments, "Life is always full of surprises".
The man who documented the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes with the film 'When A City Falls' says this week's plan for a new Christchurch CBD will forge a new path for the damaged city.
The sign for Perry's Cafe has had "Shaken but not deterred" added under the name of the cafe. One of the iconic figures of two workmen painted on the side of the building, which have regularly-changed speech bubbles commenting humorously on topical subjects, are saying "Is my crack showing?" The paint has peeled from the other speech bubble, obscuring the reply. The photographer comments, "After the numerous earthquakes in Christchurch a lot of buildings were damaged and made off limits. This affected a lot of cafes and take aways, so if you were open you needed to make it known. The words missing from the speech bubble are 'Don't be silly'".
A damaged house inside the CBD cordon seen through a fence.
A digitally manipulated image of a direction signpost, with every sign pointing to parking. The photographer comments, "With around 70% of the buildings to be demolished in the CBD, Christchurch, New Zealand will be the biggest parking lot in the world for a few years".
The cartoon shows a mobile CBD (central business district) which is mounted on tractor tracks and will be great for dodging aftershocks. Refers to problems and questions about the rebuilding of the Christchurch CBD after the earthquakes and while aftershocks continue. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
Earthquake damaged building in the CBD. Cracks are clearly visible down the exterior walls.
Members of the public enjoying the spaces around the Avon river in the CBD.
Earthquake damaged building in the CBD. Cracks are clearly visible down the exterior walls.
Ongoing demolition in the CBD, a crane and digger can be seen in the background.
Cars park outside the CBD cordon, on the right is an aqua Ford Thunderbird car.
Looking towards the Christchurch CBD, with road cones, cranes and buildings being construction in the background.
Damage building in the CBD. A wall section from the second story has been taken out.
A sign on a cordon fence on St Asaph Street reads "Stop. You must be inducted before entry." The photographer comments, "Safety comes first when it comes to demolition in the earthquake red zone in Christchurch, New Zealand".
A digitally manipulated image of a shop window. A vase is visible in the window, and the sillhouette of a mannequin in the background. The photographer comments, "The title came from the pot and the E on the window. This is a building that has been off limits since the Christchurch earthquake. The E was sprayed on the window by rescue teams after searching the building and finding it was empty. This is a very old wooden building that looks OK from the front, but terrible from the side as the previously adjoined building has been demolished.
A digitally manipulated image of a shop window, with a poster of Elvis Costello visible inside. The photographer comments, "This picture of a young Elvis Costello looks hauntingly out from a badly earthquake damaged shop in Christchurch".
The words "we're ok" spray painted on the fence of a house located in the CBD.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority's chief executive, Roger Sutton.
Lincoln University and CBRE, a commercial real estate service provider, have conducted research to investigate the impacts of the Canterbury earthquake on the commercial office market in Christchurch. The 22 February 2011 Canterbury earthquake had a devastating impact on Christchurch property with significant damage caused to land and buildings. As at January 2012, around 740 buildings have either been demolished or identified to be demolished in central Christchurch. On top of this, around 140 buildings have either been partially demolished or identified to be partially demolished. The broad aims of our research are to (i) examine the nature and extent of the CBD office relocation, (ii) identify the nature of the occupiers, (iii) determine occupier’s perceptions of the future: their location and space needs post the February earthquake, and the likelihood of relocating back to the CBD after the rebuild, and (iv) find out what occupiers see as the future of the CBD, and how they want this to look.
A digitally manipulated image of a damaged wooden wall. The photographer comments, "And the walls came tumbling down".
Demolition site in the CBD. The cordon fence is covered with banners and signs informing customer regarding businesses post-earthquake status.
A view through the cordon fence of a building damaged in the CBD. The building rubble is still inside the building.
A concrete block wall with a large diagonal crack running through it. The photographer comments, "This wall has fascinated me. It has cracked across in a dead straight diagonal line during one of Christchurch's many earthquakes. How could this have occurred?".
A digitally manipulated image of people in Re:Start Mall. The photographer comments, "In Christchurch there is a temporary mall that is made out of shipping containers. The containers painted in nice bright colours, colourful shade sails and various advertisements give the place a very merry feel".