Sustainability

Christchurch has the unique opportunity to spur Central City revitalisation through environmental leadership and initiative. Commitment and action on sustainability is increasingly a key draw card to attracting skilled workers and high-value businesses to Christchurch. Beyond making good environmental sense, greening Christchurch makes good economic sense as we try to remain competitive in the global economy. A sustainable approach to redevelopment in the Central City, combined with the South Island's stunning natural setting are a winning combination as we position ourselves to become New Zealand's premier city.

Christchurch is committed to environmental excellence. Some of our initial efforts at incorporating sustainability into Central City revitalisation include:

Water Quality

National and regional water quality standards will soon necessitate major changes to how Christchurch deals with storm water. In particular, the City will need to improve the quality of run-off before it enters the Avon and Heathcote rivers. Defaulting to a piecemeal, site-by-site treatment of the problem has the potential of stifling development and missing water quality targets. The Council has begun to develop comprehensive, catchment-wide solutions that will improve water quality while creating new open spaces and supporting redevelopment.

Industrial Site Redevelopment

A large part of revitalisation is redevelopment for new homes and businesses on vacant or under-utilised sites. These 'greyfield' sites, often car parks or former industrial buildings, come with their own set of challenges that developers do not find on 'greenfield' sites such as remediation, fragmented ownership, and constraints with existing infrastructure.

In spite of these challenges, greyfield sites also offer our best opportunities to green the city while creating new homes and centres of employment. To revitalise, Christchurch is developing mechanisms that facilitate redevelopment of these Central City sites such as alterations to the City Plan, the Development Contributions Policy, and sponsoring redevelopment projects such as the Turners and Growers initiative.

Open Space Enhancements

The Council continues to green our streets through additional tree planting and enhanced landscaping. Other public space improvements, like the renovation of City Mall, seek to incorporate local, renewable materials in their construction and reduce storm water run-off.

Green Transport

Many of the Council's Central City initiatives revolve around improving public transit and encouraging more walking and biking. The Council continues its expansion of the cycle lanes network and is steadily improving footpaths, crosswalks, and other street amenities to make the Central City more pedestrian friendly.