A convention center, sports stadium and performing arts complex are among the big projects planned for a new-look downtown Christchurch after the New Zealand city was reduced to rubble by an earthquake last year.
Essentially given a blank slate, government planners on Monday unveiled a blueprint for the city that replaces office towers with green spaces, urban apartments and innovation “hubs” they say will give the city the feel of a college campus. Under the plan, the city will be smaller, the buildings lower in height and constructed to higher earthquake standards.
The plan has been eagerly awaited. It has been nearly 18 months since the magnitude 6.1 quake struck, killing 185 people and irreparably damaging 1,400 downtown buildings, including the century-old Anglican cathedral in the city center.
“It will be safe, modern, green and will leave a legacy that makes Christchurch one of the best places in the world to live and work for many generations to come,” Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said in a statement.
Many residents have become frustrated at the slow pace of recovery in Christchurch. Hundreds of substantial aftershocks have hampered progress and made insurers skittish, while government and city officials, including Mayor Parker, have been accused of dithering and bickering. Even before the plan was released, some wondered if they would end up footing a chunk of the bill through rate hikes.
Yet for many, the plan is a welcome step forward. Some see it as a unique chance to correct problems in the city, such as an excess of older-style office space that was evident even before the earthquake. The plan also comes as the aftershocks appear to be finally abating.
The city would be broken into a series of hubs featuring related activities. For instance, there would be a health precinct anchored by a hospital, a justice precinct with courts and a police station and a retail precinct with stores.
The plan identifies sites for big infrastructure projects, including a prominent library and a convention center with the capacity to hold 2,000 people that would overlook the river. There would also be a covered sports stadium seating up to 35,000 people built in the city’s southeast and an indoor aquatic and recreation center built in the southwest.
In a release, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who grew up in Christchurch, said it was important to identify sites for the major new projects so that private developers could begin planning hotels, restaurants and stores to complement them.
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
DEADLOCK: Putin has vowed to continue fighting unless Ukraine cedes more land, while talks have been paused with no immediate results expected, the Kremlin said Russia on Friday said that peace talks with Kyiv were on “pause” as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wanted to capture the whole of Ukraine. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that he was running out of patience with Putin, and the NATO alliance said it would bolster its eastern front after Russian drones were shot down in Polish airspace this week. The latest blow to faltering diplomacy came as Russia’s army staged major military drills with its key ally Belarus. Despite Trump forcing the warring sides to hold direct talks and hosting Putin in Alaska, there
North Korea has executed people for watching or distributing foreign television shows, including popular South Korean dramas, as part of an intensifying crackdown on personal freedoms, a UN human rights report said on Friday. Surveillance has grown more pervasive since 2014 with the help of new technologies, while punishments have become harsher — including the introduction of the death penalty for offences such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said. The curbs make North Korea the most restrictive country in the world, said the 14-page UN report, which was based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who had
RSS