BROAD FOCUS:
how to build sustainability into the city of Christchurch following the 2010-11 earthquakes
NARROW FOCUS:
the place of renewable energy in this process
RESEARCH METHODS:
• Key-informant interviews
• Informal meetings
• Participant observation
• Document analysis
• Official Information Act requests
We can’t agree on what constitutes “better”
Unintended consequences: doing good might be doing bad
Many want to build back the same (ChristChurch Cathedral)
Rebuild mandates (e.g. PPPs) and insurance payments reinforced this (“like for like” replacements)
Capital flight/lack of capital
That other city problem: Auckland
Governance structures: “confusopoly” & the “tragedy of the anti-commons”, alphabet agencies
CBD already in decline (BBB = Baptist churches, brothels & band practice rooms)
New environmental challenges: sinking city, rising sea, drinking water contaminatio