Problem
Christchurch CBD needs to be rebuilt but will need to be low rise due to fear of future earthquakes
Hunch
Must be something inexpensive to build yet iconic so Christchurch stands out as a place to visit and live
Crunch
Elevated Garden City – build an elevated garden and walkway layer on our city centre. Instead of roofs being wasted space, make it useful with gardens, linked with paths and cycle ways. You could walk around the city centre without ever crossing a road. Visitors landing in the city would look down on roofs of pure green. With new sustainable, energy-conscious buildings we would become the greenest city in New Zealand, inside and outside.
Munch
Set up website and sparked public conversation around the idea and media attention
the story so far
The idea got a lot of positive reaction, from the media and public alike. It was voted one of the top ideas on the ReimagineChristchurch website, NZ Gardener magazine did a feature story on it, it was covered in the Press and the newly appointed CEO of CERA, Roger Sutton, mentioned it in a radio interview. It ended up not not being adopted for the new Christchurch city plan but there are small elements of it there. While roof top gardens are becoming more common the idea of linking them all together could completely change the way a city works. This hunch did lead to the analysis on the economic cost of being boring that possibly made some impact. The hunch has run it's course but we are proud to have been able to spark debate around some of these alternative rebuilding ideas, and to see elements of them in some of the new buildings and spaces that are developing in 21st century Christchurch. You can see a video below.