Meh.: Revisiting

Christchurch again on Friday night. Went there straight after work. The main agenda was to catch up with Krystal and Janice. Krystal is leaving for Perth in mid January, and yes, it is a little disappointing at how little friends I have left in NZ. Yeah, living up to the whole exodus to OZ phenomena.

Jan and I spent most of our Saturday together. Albeit a little hot, it was a very enjoyable day catching up with that little missy seeing that she had been busy throughout the year.

We went to Cashel Street Mall

if you guys recall, the February Earthquake had devastated most parts of Christchurch city centre. Cashel Street Mall is right smack in the middle, and just a stone throw away from the bus exchange and Cathedral Church. Cashel Street Mall, prior to the earthquake, has been invested heavily by the local council to create a pedestrian friendly environment by setting up public seatings, displays and art trying to attract people to linger in the area a bit longer. Christchurch, being a classic example of urban sprawl (with a population of only 400,000) didnt succeed very well in that attempt. They struggle, mainly due to the loss of consumers and patrons to the suburb malls, where parking are more abundant, and they often have everything under one room. In general, the redevelopment of the city centre, before the earthquake was rather desperate but didnt obtain widespread popularity.

It is however interesting how the earthquake has transformed this scene though. The urban forms have changed. Many people have been displaced from their own neighbourhood. For instance, Riccarton is now consumed by numerous shops from city centre, and people from a different suburb.
Cashel Street Mall, thanks to the displaced commercial scenes, and mainly earthquake. People are feeling COMING BACK, as they binded by this string of attachment to the city centre. When they relaunched the cashel street mall, mainly with shipping container buildings, it was a blast. People enjoyed the public environment, in spite being in the middle of the worst eq hit area. The locality has empty sections, for most buildings have been reduced to rubbles. It is not that bad really. it sounds horrible when I put it that way. In short, they had landscaped the area very well. Made used of modern designs, and even created small public spaces, with enhanced connectivity. The weather was gorg yesterday, and the usual buskers are flocking back into the CBD. It is amazing really. I have never seen Cashel Street Mall so alive. They are more compacted now, instead of having a long stretch of it with sporadic human traffic.
Most importantly, Dimitri is back! in their food kiosk :D. I was thrilled, and didnt mind waiting 25mins for my souvlaki :).
Note the colourful container buildings

Ballentynes once again have their xmas display

Public seatings, and landscaped areas

They made use of space and executed it perfectlyWell lit shops, with see through glassesThey make rusty shipping containers look hip

Having said that, I think if they make the whole town centre looks like thisi wil find it boring and too homogenous.
but small sections and precinct of it is amazing :)

I also wonder about the insulations during winter though
prob quite inefficient

The back of the bus exchangeLook at the damage

They made a courtyard to connect ballentynes and the street mall

hanging flower baskets

Those rounded things are actually sewer airer sort of thingThey actually relocated them from somewhereand made them into public seatingsvery fitting for a courtyard facing the back of buildings

I wonder which planning consultant company or architectural company involve in the whole planning process

Yes, they stil have a bit of public art

One can still see the crane in the background

Then we took the CERA corridor that leads to cathedral church

Intending to see the damaged CHCH icon with my own eyeseven though I have seen it uncountable times on television

Hereford Street - No more Wendy's and the food court