Building Life Is Like Building A City After A Disaster

Index

Christchurch

TranzAlphine Train

Urban Geography On Travel

Surprise

Hope

Imagine After 3 Years People Were Still Not Allowed In Their Houses, Because Of Danger Of Collapsing?

Trying To Make The City Fuction Again

New York And 9/11

Related blogs on my website

Christchurch

On my 5,5-month journey as a digital nomad in Southeast Asia and mainly Australia and New Zealand, one place touched me the most that was Christchurch. It touched my sense of sadness and hope.

TranzAlphine Train

My first look at Christchurch was after a breathtaking ride with TranzAlpine from Greymounth through the New Zealand Alps to Christchurch. One nature beauty after another nature beauty passes by. My senses are spoiled with all the beautiful nature I see from the train and the stories told about the New Zealand Southern Alps. Then I am suddenly in Christchurch, a city with literally empty spaces now (2014) still after the earthquake of 2011. How greater can the contrast and shock be on my senses?

Urban Geography On Travel

As an urban geographer I was immediately fascinated, and I immediately wondered why after 3 years (was 2014 when I was there) the city has not been cleared up and reconstruction was not in full swing? Why is the city so empty? And by empty, I mean literally it was a city of 380,000 people before the earthquake (comparable in size to Utrecht, back then), but many people have left so the city feels empty.

Surprise

I fell from surprise into surprise. I love to get up early in a new city and then wander around the center looking for a place to have breakfast, but mostly to see and feel how commuters and rush hour works. I have seen this before in New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Wellington to name a few. I always look with surprise and interest at the phenomenon of rush hour. The streams of people, all in a different direction with almost collisions. Small detail that almost caused collisions was sometimes by me, because I look fascinated at how the rush hour process looks like conveyor belt work in a factory and that meant me standing in the way of another commuter watching the other commuters. But in Christchurch it was different. I was one of the only ones in the morning around rush hour on the street along with a stray commuter and wanderers. No busy traffic, no stores opening and employees on their way to work. What I did find was densely carpeted shops, half buildings and buildings that were renovated. It was like a ghost town! This made me even more fascinated by the city and went to investigate to find out more about the reconstruction of the city.

Hope

In the reconstruction I found hope, but also frustration. Historical buildings about which they were still staggering on whether they should be demolished or preserved. There was even a real action center in a newly built shopping center where protests articles were made for the preservation of these historic buildings and people were helped in their lawsuit about rebuilding their home or claiming compensation.

Imagine After 3 Years People Were Still Not Allowed In Their Houses, Because Of Danger Of Collapsing?

But there was also no compensation due to delays and haggling with insurers, which prevented them from continuing. I wanted to know more about this, so I went on a bus excursion that told the story about the earthquake in 2011 and the restoration. Most of the people on the tour were New Zealanders. After the tour I heard that there was also a museum about the earthquake. In the museum I could read about the earthquake and the things that happened back then. After that I could wander through a building where a small earthquake was simulated to have a feeling what an eathquake feels like and see what they were doing in the new built houses to be earthquake proof. One activity in the museum was very emotional for all visitors that was the Quakebox movie (the website is not working optimally). Not really a film, but a collection of short stories of survivors about how they experienced the earthquake and the moments after that. So far, the Quakebox consists of more than 700 stories. I had to shed some tears and looking around me I was not the only one. I thought it was nice that the museum gave place to the mourning of the inhabitants of the city, but the museum was not the only place.

Trying To Make The City Fuction Again

Everywhere in the city there were monuments to commemorate and give people space for their feelings. Some made by the government and others made spontaneously by the residents of the city. Such as a small park in the center where benches, plants and a vegetable garden were set up. Residents come to work on the vegetable garden, talk to each other and make music.

New York And 9/11

I became fascinated by Christchurch experience and wondered if this also happens in the same way after a disaster in other disaster areas / cities. In New York I had not experienced that in the 9/11 area back in 2006 when I visited the city for my Urban Geography study. In New York there was a photo exhibition to commemorate and a park with pieces of the disaster, but nothing like in Christchurch. At least the city of Christchurch grabbed me. Perhaps also because I understood the struggle of the city in search of hope and reconstruction after a disaster or misfortune.