Instead of hiking and gallivanting through the forest, today we
took a break from the bush and spent the day learning about Christchurch and
human geography, shopping, and going to the movies.
We began the day by meeting with
Eric Pawson, who is a professor of Cultural,
Environmental and Historical Geography at the University of Canterbury. We held
our outdoor discussion at Cracroft Reserve, where we could see the Canterbury
plains and the Southern Alps in the distance.
Dr. Pawson began by discussing the geography of the Canterbury Plains,
which is made up of numerous fans of gravel that have been accumulating since
the last Ice Age and the deltas of rivers such as the Waimakariri. Flooding and
other hydrological behavior is determined by the mountains, but much of the
regional taxes are used to build flood defenses and prevent the natural
hydrological behavior. Between the gravel fans is a series of smaller rivers,
whose hydrological behavior is controlled by the southerlies from Antarctica.
Christchurch, which was founded in 1850, was built on several
thousand meters of gravel, which makes the area unstable as well as prone to
earthquakes and flooding. Although the flood and earthquake risks where known
facts, it was assumed the earthquake risk would come from the Alpine Fault,
which runs the length of the country and is where the Pacific plate and the
Indo-Australian plate meet. However, the series of earthquakes that began in
September 2010 did not originate from this fault, but rather from a previously
unknown network of faults underneath the city.
The worst of the earthquakes happened in February 2011 and
occurred directly under the city, resulting in the death of nearly 200 people.
Much of the destruction was caused by liquefaction, which destroyed the
foundations of buildings. The Central Business District of Christchurch was one
of the areas hit hardest, partially because it was built on former swampland.
Seventy percent of the CBD had to be demolished as a result of damage caused by
liquefaction. Virtually all houses close to a river or stream were destroyed,
and thousands houses built on younger sediment in the delta were rendered
inhabitable, creating what is now called the Residential Redzone.
In response to the destruction, organizations such as the
Student Volunteer Army and the
Farmy Army (made up of farmers) helped suburbs damaged
by liquefaction.
Rebuilding Christchurch will take many years, and many are using
the earthquakes as an opportunity to improve the city. The city must address
not only the possibly of more earthquakes, but also potential effects of
climate change such as flooding caused by rising sea levels. As the city is
rebuilt, many new green initiatives are being taken on and there is a new focus
on art and innovation. Dr. Pawson mentioned that adaptive and temporary
urbanism are being explored and citizens are becoming
increasingly involved. Although many positive improvements and innovations have
been made, much of Christchurch still needs to be rebuilt and there is debate
about what to do with inhabitable areas such as the Residential Redzone and the
future of Christchurch.
After learning about the earthquakes and the challenges faced by
the people of Christchurch, we continued our discussion with Dr. Pawson at a
local coffee shop,
The Cup, where he gave us packets of information about the
history and rebuilding of Christchurch. He also gave us information about Hugh
Wilson, a famous botanist and keeper of the Hinewai Reserve who we are all very
excited to meet next week.
After tea-time, we gave our thanks to Dr. Pawson and made our way
to Victoria Park to eat lunch. We then went to
The Tannery, which is a modern shopping center converted from an old 19
th century tannery. There were
a wide variety of shops including a bookstore, fabric store, numerous clothing
stores, a flower shop, and a bakery. Many of the shops sold items made
exclusively in Christchurch or other parts of New Zealand.
After a little
shopping, we met up at the movie theater in the shopping center to see the film
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which was
written and directed by Taika Waititi and filmed in New Zealand. The film tells
the story of a foster boy who embarks on an adventure in the New Zealand forest
with his caretaker while running from the police and Child Welfare. The film
was funny and heartwarming, and all of us enjoyed it immensely.
- Grace
