"Regeneration is the Focus Now": Anchor projects and delivering a new CBD for Christchurch

This chapter examines urban regeneration practices in a post-disaster context. It discusses the relevant literature for the purposes of the study. It introduces the pre-earthquake situation and the main stages of regeneration that have occurred within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The chapter presents an analysis of the rebuilding of the CBD with a focus on the delivery of the anchor projects outlined in the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan. The process of urban regeneration in a context of post-disaster recovery shares a number of essential traits with mainstream urban regeneration as well as showing some significant differences. Successful long-term regeneration requires an inclusive approach that integrates social, environmental and local economic considerations. By enforcing a neoliberal programme of regeneration projects in the Christchurch CBD, the national government will likely not only manage to make much of the new Christchurch look like elsewhere, but also repeat the same failures.