Belonging...

One of the outcomes of the city earthquake damage has been the loss of central meeting places – C1, the Globe, Le Café, Dux de Lux, The Coffee House, Alchemy, Café Roma… (I’m thinking tea/coffee here as opposed to alcohol). My other destination of choice to meet with friends – Lyttelton – has lost all but one of its many cosy, cheerful, character-filled cafes. An interesting consequence of these losses has been the necessary search for other spaces in which to gather, enjoy good coffee and share stories. There has been a move to the periphery. So yesterday my friend Anna (who has relocated from her damaged home in Heathcote to Leeston) and I met halfway at the Tai Tapu store. Other recent gathering places with other friends have included the Little River Café & Gallery, The Blue Duck at Motukarara and the general Store at Diamond Harbour (the always-popular Cup on Cashmere remains). So other little businesses benefit, in the interim, as our places and spaces shift to accommodate a changed and changing world.

Even for those of us less materially affected by the quakes, the sense of dislocation is significant. Never in my life did I think I would mourn the passing of a supermarket, but, as I negotiate the still unfamiliar Colombo St Countdown, I long for my St Martins New World where I knew the location of all items, recognised customers and checkout staff and felt ‘at home’. I go to the Riccarton Mall of necessity but do not feel I belong. It is not my part of the world. Despite having worked for many years in the (comparatively unscathed) north-west, my allegiances have always lain in the south-east of the city: Opawa, where I was born; Beckenham, where I lived for many years; adjacent St Martins, en route to the Rapaki track; Sydenham where I shopped and enjoyed the gritty history; Heathcote and Horatane Valleys – Sunday drive destinations from long ago and weekly must-goes for summer fruit; Sumner for the sea; Lyttelton through the tunnel to another world.  The common threads are proximity to the Port Hills and the Heathcote River – the defining, much loved geographic features of my life.

Last week the Opawa shops were demolished. No great architectural loss; certainly not a significant commercial loss. But these brick shops defined my childhood. A five-minute (less?) walk around the river or up and over the railway tracks to a group of little shops that served a community. From where, pre-supermarket and (for us) pre-car, my mum purchased all her groceries. From where I collected my much anticipated, weekly Princess magazine. From where the ‘lucky’ children at Opawa school, in the 1960s, could buy fish and chips for lunch.

The earthquakes have ‘surfaced’ our often taken-for-granted allegiance to place. Suburbs that some Christchurch residents may never have heard of are part of the collective conversation, precisely because they are about to be erased entirely from the map. The more community-oriented ‘village’ seems to be replacing ‘suburb’ in the discourse of rebuild. If, out of all this, we who remain in Christchurch end up with an enhanced sense of commitment to our communities – to the parts that constitute the whole – then something of great value will emerge from the rubble and silt. 

Looking to the future...

Last weekend (15 May) Claire and I went to the Westpac Arena (or whatever its latest corporate brand name is) to participate in the City Council's Share an Idea Community Expo - the first large-scale opportunity for the citizens of Christchurch to articulate their thoughts/desires for the rebuild of their city. I went because I thought it was important to be there, to seize the democratic opportunity and swell the numbers - but I also went with a fair dollop of cynicism, fully aware that this could be a token consultation, largely disconnected from the 'real business' of earthquake recovery.

I was blown away. The arena was set up with a 'speakers' corner' where invited experts were addressing a large audience sitting in the raked seats of the auditorium. On the floor there were four designated areas addressing different aspects of the rebuild. Each area had panels mounted with large-scale photos of relevant city environments. There was a wall which presented 'trigger questions' and people were invited people to provide their feedback. They could do this electronically - there was a row of computers for each of the four themes - or on post-it notes. What stunned me was the seriousness and intensity with which people were engaging. The ideas flowed. Hundreds, thousands of pieces of coloured paper. Many people silently reading what others had written. Council staff were busy removing and filing post-its as the walls filled and filled again... 10,000 people participated over two days.

In another area ample supplies of lego enabled children - and adults - to express their visions for Christchurch in 3D. The children, of course, were all constructing skyscrapers - though I suspect that, if asked, they would have vehemently denied any wish to rebuild in this style. I was hugely impressed at the number of families with young children. One man I spoke to explained that, since this was their (the children's) future, it was important that they participated in the process.

I was particularly impressed by this very solid (!) multi-coloured Hundertwasser-style construction!

There was a large-screen video of before and after the 22 February quake still shots. Another screen played interviews with adults and children talking of their visions for the future of Christchurch. There was also a big, summary wall on which people were invited to write directly. There seemed to me to be significant consensus on many aspects of the rebuild. Low rise, green, eco-friendly, wood as a preferred building material, good design - respectful of heritage but not bound by it, multi-purpose (commercial, entertainment, residential...), supportive of diversity, people-friendly, foot, bike and public transport friendly... 

There was dissension too, architecture and transport in particular hotly contested. 

I came away feeling moved and heartened by the City Council's thoughtful and creative preparation for this event, and by the response. The genie is out of the bottle. You can't invite feedback on such a scale (and this is just the beginning of the public engagement) and then ignore it. Always strongly opinionated when it comes to their city, Christchurch residents will, I believe, fight for the best solutions possible within the constraints of budget.