Some thought the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes would be the end of Christchurch – they weren’t. For all its unique challenges, we have it in us to get through Covid-19, too, writes earthquake scientist Ursula Cochran. We can do this. Darfield 2010, Christchurch 2011, Seddon 2013, Kaikōura 2016. We have already had our lives turned … Read more
The earthquakes have changed the culture in genteel Christchurch. Now it’s more about how you can contribute than who you went to school with, writes Steven Moe. I grew up in Christchurch, but not the one that exists today. I lived in the non-Ōtautahi version – the pre-earthquakes mini-England you wouldn’t recognise if you came … Read more
Add a new central library and a cinema complex to the Margaret Mahy playground and you’ll see a template for how the rest of the rebuild should work, writes James Dann. Christchurch in the rebuild is a city of extreme moods. There are bursts of energy, followed by long periods of frustration and stagnation. The … Read more
Seven-and-a-half years since the quake, food is playing a critical role in how Christchurch rebuilds, according to the people behind a festival that celebrates the city’s regeneration. When you think about the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, food probably isn’t what springs to mind. But it was an important thread that ran through the … Read more
Amid all the controversy over EQC re-repairs cost overruns, little attention has been paid to the huge amounts we’re paying to bail out Southern Response, the agency formed to take over private insurer AMI’s earthquake claims. This column first appeared on interest.co.nz. There has been much focus in the media recently on the extent of … Read more
The Southern Response spying scandal is just the latest in a string of post-earthquake disasters in the Garden City – and many of them can be traced back to one man, writes James Dann. Almost as soon as the ground stopped shaking on February 22, criticism began about the National government’s handling of the response … Read more
As Christchurch approaches the seventh anniversary of the big quake, the challenge confronting the incoming minister is daunting, argues James Dann. At 2pm on Wednesday, in one of the dusty gravel carparks that plague the centre of Christchurch, Megan Woods, MP for Wigram, and the Greater Christchurch regeneration minister in the new Labour-led government, made … Read more
Lara Strongman declares that Fiona Farrell’s novel about post-quake Christchurch is a work of art. When everything collapses, some people behave with dignity and kindness, while others steal the gates. Fiona Farrell has an elderly Italian woman say this, or at least think it to herself, one night in bed in a sleepout crammed with … Read more
When Jacinda Ardern and Bill English meet again at the Stuff Leaders Debate tonight at La Vida Conference Centre, it will represent an increasingly rare opportunity for Christchurch issues to be aired on a national stage. Barnaby Bennett explains what’s at stake. Tonight the leaders meet in Christchurch for their third big debate of this … Read more
Who doesn’t like a bracingly funny bit of satirical social politics? Who doesn’t admire an arts troupe that astounds its audience show after show? With the Film Festival upon us we asked filmmakers to choose a favourite movie from the lineup and also tell us about their own films in the festival. Here’s the fourth … Read more