AshfordsAroundtheWorld: The Recovery-Christchurch

New Zealand has 4.4 million people in the entire country (a little more than Oregon). Christchurch is the third largest city with a population of about 375,000. There is no big brother, no huge federal aid program to sweep in and help out. What they have is what they have. This applies to financial assistance, insurance money, engineering services and contractors. Thus, the progress is slow and the people are tired.

Over a year of earthquakes culminating in the February 2011 rumbler that did the most damage. The downtown was devastated and 100,000 homes damaged. Two years later, everyone is still inconvenienced and many, many people are living in limbo not knowing what will happen with their damaged businesses or houses. So many buildings are half demolished and held up by scaffolding while the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and insurance companies try to decide whether to demolish and rebuild or to repair them. "Red Zones" were established by the government and cordoned off so people were not allowed in. This was a major inconvenience to business and home owners, but did keep things in check.

We met up with some old friends whose house is quite damaged. Sure they can live in it but the floor is sloped, doors no longer close and the walls are riddled with cracks. After two years, no one can tell them if their house will be rebuilt or repaired. They are tired.

But if there is one thing about kiwis, it is that they are creative and tough. They most certainly will perservere. We saw some of the most creative solutions, both physically and politically. I guess shipping containers are cheap because they have used them a lot. In Sumner an area with lots of bluff/cliff failures, they lined the roads with them. Then to add some interest, they covered them with canvas had allowed artist to go wild! The effect is fantastic. Near downtown, and in order to keep businesses going they set us an area they call Re-Start. It is an outside shopping mall completely made of shipping containers. We saw temporary bars made of scaffolding and tarps and outfitted with window seats and everything.

In Christchurch, as in Chile, the threat of earthquakes was generally understood and designed for. The numbers we heard for the cost-benefit of earthquake retrofit were that for every $1 spent on (sucessful) retrofit saved $8-$10 in repair or rebuild. In Christchurch, the long period between the initial shock of the first September 2010 earthquake and the devastating February 2011 earthquake forced people to prepare and that served them well. In Chile, the frequent earthquake events also continually remind them to be prepared. Even so, the damage to the economy and the psychy of the people is tremendous. I hope that Oregon will not soon forget and work diligently to retrofit and prepare.


The kiwis use shipping containers here to hold back the falling cliff. Several have canvases wrapped around them and painted for art. Note the house falling off the cliff above.