Residential Reconstruction of Christchurch City Centre: Is sustainability the key to promoting inner-city living?

Abstract

The aftermath of the 12 years following the earthquake has posed persistent challenges in achieving attracting permanent residents into the Christchurch City Centre. Despite City Council’s initiatives like the Central City Housing Program Project 8011, aimed at reaching a population of 20,000 by 2028, population growth in the inner-city has not kept up with the growth of housing stock. This gap is filled by the growth of temporary residents in short-term rentals like Airbnb. The study argues that reaching sustainable levels of population growth requires more than just constructing extra houses. Discouraging speculative investment market, especially when property development companies with a 'build-to-sell' mindset offer products like typical townhouses, readily available in the suburbs at lower prices, and ensuring residential developments are innovative, sustainable and resilient will help differentiate the inner-city living and promote growth. Evidently, the development of sustainable residential properties, with features such as indoor air quality, energy and water conservation, health, and well-being (Oyewole et al., 2023), coupled with external factors such as environmental quality, spatial integration, connectivity, mixed land uses, and green spaces, contributes to the overall sustainability of the neighbourhood (Khatibi et al., 2023). This research explores the potential interaction between a sustainable built environment and the increased willingness to stay in the city centre. The study identifies characteristics of the residential built environment that are critical in post-disaster recovery.