Christchurch Central City

This article is about the Christchurch central city suburb. For the Christchurch Central electorate, see Christchurch Central.
Not to be confused with Christchurch Town Centre.

Christchurch Central City
Suburb
Cathedral Square – the heart of the central city. The Cathedral suffered heavy damage in the 2011 earthquake, with its tower and part of the main building collapsing. It was announced in September 2017 that the building would be reinstated.
Cathedral Square – the heart of the central city. The Cathedral suffered heavy damage in the 2011 earthquake, with its tower and part of the main building collapsing. It was announced in September 2017 that the building would be reinstated.
Map
Coordinates: 43°31′52″S 172°38′11″E / 43.531°S 172.6365°E / -43.531; 172.6365
CountryNew Zealand
CityChristchurch
Local authorityChristchurch City Council
Electoral wardCentral[1]
Community boardWaipapa Papanui-Innes-Central
Established1850
Area
[2]
 • Land634 ha (1,567 acres)
Population
 (June 2024)[3]
 • Total
8,350
HospitalsChristchurch Hospital
Fendalton St Albans Richmond South
Riccarton
Christchurch Central City
 Linwood
Addington Sydenham Phillipstown

Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue[4]) and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green space including Hagley Park, the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and the Barbadoes Street Cemetery.

It suffered heavy damage in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake and was devastated in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Following this second earthquake, the Central City Red Zone was set up and, with a gradually shrinking area, remained inaccessible except to authorised contractors until June 2013. However, proposals to relocate the city centre elsewhere, to avoid future damage, were considered both uneconomical (as much of the infrastructure was still mainly intact) and unnecessary, as the rebuilt city centre would be to modern building standards so as to be able to withstand similar quakes and liquefaction in the future.[5]

  1. ^ "Wards, Councillors and Community Boards map". ccc.govt.nz. Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. ^ The population and area are the sum of the population and area in statistical areas of Christchurch Central, Christchurch Central North, Christchurch Central East, Christchurch Central South, Christchurch Central West, and Hagley Park
  3. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Christchurch City Council definition" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  5. ^ Collins, Simon (18 June 2011). "City centre stays despite quake". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2011.