Christchurch: City of opportunity, city of transformation

The resilience and agility of the Christchurch community is what brought it back to its feet quickly. Today if you look around Christchurch you’ll see urban regeneration, new architecture blended in with heritage and culture. Hence why the city is termed ‘the newest city’, not just in New Zealand but in the world. When we speak of Smart Cities we often refer to urban infrastructure, technologies, and data. The context of Christchurch is much the same, like the rest of the world, but it has its own unique nuances given that it sits on an earthquake belt like most other New Zealand cities. The 2010/11 earthquakes catalysed the city’s thinking and innovative action into developing a range of new smart solutions.

This eventually triggered the city’s Smart City agenda. Smart Christchurch is the Smart City program set up by the Christchurch City Council. Its purpose is to trial technologies and approaches that accelerate the city in becoming a city of opportunity for all. A city where anything is possible. Innovative action is key to the Smart Christchurch program, which is why the program has a core

mission: to deliver rapid proof of concept projects that promote open and visual data, open platform, and ultimately an open city that makes living better for the residents of Christchurch. The Smart Christchurch program is underpinned

by key principles: one being that efficiency must be valued over bureaucracy. A second key principle is that innovation moves too quickly to focus on perfection so it’s okay to fail but to fail well and fail poor. In any case, one of the ultimate driving principles is to have a relentless focus on getting the job done. As a result, the Smart Christchurch program has had a go at numerous innovative projects, from creating easier access to information through mobile applications, to mobility parking solutions, to creating 3D models and digital twins of the city.

So, let’s get some insight into these innovative experiences, hear from the Smart Christchurch team about what has transpired, how they emerged from trials and failures, and hear firsthand of how they have advanced on many of the Smart City initiatives.