Christchurch, frozen in time?
Have you ever heard about the story of Christchurch? It is the third most populous city in New Zealand as well as the oldest. It is located on the east coast of the south island.
One of its most impressive features nowadays is how it looks after the earthquakes of 2010, 2011, and 2012. A big part of the city got damaged. Many of the ruins, abandoned buildings, and empty lots remain everywhere.
Obviously, these facts give Christchurch a special character. It is interesting to see how life continued after almost half of the city was devastated.
To learn more about it you can visit Quake City and review not only the scientific facts of earthquakes but about what people experienced during this horrifying experience.
I must confess I had a bit of paranoia, thinking “what if it shakes now?”. But this is something that doesn’t seem to interfere with the good vibe of Christchurch´s people. I guess you just get used to it.
It was a bit terrifying, but sure if you come from any part of Chile, Japan, or the San Francisco area(or if you are just a bit more normal than me) you won’t have this panic problem.
Anyway, Christchurch is absolutely worth visiting. As I said, life continued in a kind of a frozen atmosphere. In some parts of the city, it looks like the earthquakes have been just yesterday; nevertheless, the vibrancy you find in this city of ruins is sometimes incredible.
Day or night the city has things to offer. They have mastered the idea of the “zwischennutzung” or temporary uses. This makes total sense in a seismic area.
They engaged with the question of what to do in this “transition time” between total devastation and a bright future for cities and people under these circumstances.
These periods are defined by uncertainness, the urban patterns are altered, the interaction fluxes, and naturally the sense of place can change completely.
I see Christchurch going through this transition in an interesting way.