40 Years of Change

In the interest of making this fascinating document on 40 Years of Change, Traffic and Planning 1959–1999 covering the Christchurch City Centre more accessible to a wider audience of peers, citizens, researchers and historians, the team at ViaStrada has scanned in its copy and placed it on this website. The file, at 31 MB, is quite large. The following is the preface of the report:

This publication records the planning and changes in the Christchurch City Centre, in particular to the transport system, over the 40 years 1959 to 1999. It is both a description and an assessment of the surveys, planning and development of the city centre, i.e. the area within the four avenues. It attempts, in a few pages and with photographs and charts, to encapsulate 40 years of the results of all the Council's decisions and actions, together with those of the many developers, businesses and institutions that occupy the city centre.
While focusing on traffic management and the public open spaces these changes cannot be seen separately from the host of activities occurring in the complex metropolitan city centre of Christchurch.
The overview recognises:

• All the land uses (shops, offices, industry, entertainment, education, institutional and residential activities),
• all the public open spaces (streets, squares, reserves, pedestrian areas, traffic areas, parking), and
• all the modes of travel and access (cars, trucks, buses, taxis, bicycles, pedestrians).

These activities and functions occur within economic, employment and investment contexts, and the dynamics of growth affecting environmental and heritage issues. All these matters must be considered together and policies developed and balanced as a whole for successful city centre planning and development.

The Christchurch City Centre now contains 26% of Christchurch's employment. Over 60% of Christchurch citizens visit this area during a typical week. The area is attractive to a large proportion of citizens, national and international visitors. The city centre contains institutions, businesses and activities, which are representative of the whole community. For all these reasons, it is essential that it remains healthy, active, accessible and attractive.

September 1999 was the 40th anniversary of the first comprehensive transportation and land use study undertaken in Christchurch (and New Zealand). This was recorded in the book "Traffic in a New Zealand City" (1965), which is a unique resource enabling review of the "science" of traffic surveys, modelling and the "art" of transport planning. In Christchurch there is the opportunity for 40 years of hindsight and the measurement of development and travel changes on the same scientific basis. Such a background must bring added confidence to the technical conclusions as well as the public recommendations arising from such work in 2000 and beyond.

This review is not in isolation. Historically, the record of growth, change and traffic planning for the city centre is very extensive. In 1959 Nancy Northcroft and her regional planning staff surveyed the land uses and traffic situation in great detail. The work of Harold Surtees, Bob Critchley and Peter Scoular in the 1960s and 70s was followed by that Bill Williams and Mike Gadd (who has assisted in preparing this publication). In 1987 the City Council published an excellent booklet edited by Bill Williams "The Christchurch Central Area Traffic Plan 1960-1986".

This report has been prepared by Malcolm Douglass who has had an association with the work since 1964 and is uniquely placed to ensure consistency of information over the 40 years covered. He has been assisted by past and present planners and transport engineers of the Council, in particular Stuart Woods and Paul Roberts. It is seen as part of the ongoing research and reports associated with the central city improvement plan envisaged in the Christchurch City Plan and being actively pursued by the Council at this time.

The result of all these changes, planned and unplanned, is the city centre as we see it today. It is a measure of success of the efforts of many people that the city centre both functions well and looks more attractive as each year passes.

J.G. Dryden

Environmental Policy and Planning Manager

Christchurch City Council

October 2000