Christchurch Earthquake Recovery: Can anyone help me with post-disaster case study projects?

[Hannah Ayres]

Hello world wide landscape architects, I wonder if anyone can help me?

I am a post graduate landscape architecture student at Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand. Since the devastation of the latest earthquake in Christchurch on February 22nd, I have adjusted my master thesis topic to something along the lines of Landscape Architecture in Earthquake Recovery and Resilience. As part of my research, I am looking for case studies/project across the world where landscape architects have undertaken projects to rebuild (parts of) cities which have suffered from or are prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes.

I would love to hear from anyone who has been involved in such recovery and resilience projects, or if anyone could give me links to specific projects of this nature. At the moment I am interested in all scales, from overall city planning, to memorial parks established in newly opened gaps in the city. As I wonder through my shaken city, I wonder what have landscape architects done in the past with huge areas of land now deemed unsafe to build upon, once the rubble have been removed?

I am hoping to establish a research project that not only meets the requirements of my degree, but also becomes a useful resource for the landscape architects who will be involved in rebuilding our little city in the future (hopefully me!).

So if you think you can help, please let me know!

Many thanks in advance

 

 

[Hannah Ayres]

Thanks for your advice Damian – I am familiar with both CERA and the NZILA (I’m a member), however while I can see these organisations as being very useful throughout the research (and hopefully using the research), I am more focused at the moment on trying to find some specific international case study projects (master plans, central city squares, etc) to talk about as best practice examples of what can be achieved by landscape architects in the post disaster environment. I will email the NZILA with a similar request to the one I have posted here and see if anyone within the institute can help me too.   Thanks  again

 

 

[Wyatt Thompson, PLA]

Greensburg, Kansas, USA was devastated by a tornado several years ago. Here’s a starting point for you:

http://www.greensburggreentown.org/

[Hannah Ayres]

Thanks Wyatt, it looks like a really interesting project!

[KRISTINE KERR]

Research the San Francisco earthquake I think in 1989… The Mayor at the time was on TV1 Close Up last night. He had a few urban design examples that were unpopular at the time and cost him the next election, but one example looked like a fabulous bustling market had been created in an formerly grotty double storey motorway blocking access / relationship with the river..

[Thomas J. Johnson]

You’re starting from a very broad view, which is where you should start when you don’t know where you’re going but you need to narrow your focus. You mention rebuilding but you also mention areas that have been deemed unsafe to build upon. Which one do you want to focus on? Maybe integrate the two. I.E. How to incorporate previously built/now unbuildable land into the remaining cityscape.

One thing that I’ve learned in my travels/ living is that every city is so different that it is nearly impossible to compare them. What has worked in other cities recovering from disaster would most likely be inappropriate for Christchurch. Understanding a place; it’s history, culture, building models, aesthetic, business and natural environments is our job as landscape architects. That would be my recommendation to you; develop an inventory of Chirstchurch’s pre-disaster conditions, identify where failures occurred, and propose design solutions that will preserve the city’s character while anticipating it’s future needs and reducing the effects of similar events.

Most Masters programs/thesis appear to be based on the study and regurgitation of other peoples work, which bores me to tears. If it’s been done or written about, why do it again? I’d rather read the original. Seems like a waste of time and money to me. Use your education and creativity to expand the profession and take it in new directions.

[Hannah Ayres]

Thanks Kristine – yea I remember catching the end of his interview on Close Up. I’ll certainly take a look further into the San Francisco earthquake and some of the specific urban design projects they had going on there. Cheers

[Hannah Ayres]

Hi Thomas,

I appreciate your feedback – thanks 🙂 I will be narrowing the focus once I get the ball rolling and have scoped the literature a bit more. How to incorporate the previously built/now unbuildable land into the remaining cityscape is certainly something I’d like to look at.

The thing is, I am am only writing a Master’s dissertation and while I would love to come up with a complete design strategy for Christchurch, the scale of that project would be a bit too big (I have already asked my supervisors about this..). What I hope to provide is a useful resource for landscape architects and local authorities in the form of a collection of best practice examples of how to consider the landscape in fast tracked planning and redevelopment of this scale. I certainly don’t suggest replicating case studies from around the world and overlaying them on Christchurch, but I merely hope to seek and learn from projects in the past to create an even better outcome for Christchurch.

The thing is, in NZ, good urban design is not a given. Our landscape planning legislation does not require good urban design practices, and because many of the development budgets are so small, cuts to the budget are unfortunately made on the landscape architect and the creative aspects of the design. Basically, I hope to provide enough proof from case studies around the world, that landscape architects are essential in this post-disaster situation for creating innovative outcomes that benefit the city in the long term.

I have many dreams for the new design of Christchurch. However, I need to be able to back myself if I want to be heard. I plan to take the profession in new directions as soon as I get into practice 🙂

 

[James Rydock]

Hello Hannah,

As a start to your research, I am wondering if you have done any of what Thomas above has suggested? That is to say, identifying where (and why) some failures might have occurred in the pre-earthquake landscape of Christchurch? I am working on a European Union project ‘Designing Safer Urban Spaces’ (http://www.desurbs.net) and we would like to include Christchurch as a case study. We are also looking (like you) for best practice examples from successful projects around the world. So I would be very interested in hearing about your results as they emerge.

[Author]

Posts