Christchurch
Christchurch (/ˈkraɪstʃɜːrtʃ/ ⓘ; Māori: Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island and the second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand, after Auckland.[a] Christchurch lies in the Canterbury Region, near the centre of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains. It is located near the southern end of Pegasus Bay, and is bounded to the east by the Pacific Ocean and to the south by the Banks Peninsula. The Avon River (Ōtākaro) flows through the centre of the city, with a large urban park along its banks.
"ChCh" redirects here. For the Ontario TV station, see CHCH-DT.
Christchurch
Ōtautahi (Māori)
- Banks Peninsula
- Coastal-Burwood
- Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood
- Halswell-Hornby-Riccarton
- Linwood-Central-Heathcote
- Papanui-Innes
- Spreydon-Cashmere
- Banks Peninsula
- Burwood
- Cashmere
- Central
- Coastal
- Fendalton
- Halswell
- Harewood
- Heathcote
- Hornby
- Innes
- Linwood
- Papanui
- Riccarton
- Spreydon
- Waimairi
1848
1,426 km2 (551 sq mi)
1,415.47 km2 (546.52 sq mi)
295.15 km2 (113.96 sq mi)
2,408.1 km2 (929.8 sq mi)
20 m (70 ft)
396,200
280/km2 (720/sq mi)
384,800
1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
521,881
220/km2 (560/sq mi)
Cantabrian
UTC+13:00 (NZDT)
03
The first Māori inhabitants migrated to the area sometime between 1000 and 1250 AD.[7] They hunted moa, which led to the birds' extinction by 1450, and destroyed much of the mataī and tōtara forest. The first iwi to settle the area that would later become known as Christchurch were the Waitaha, who migrated to the area in the 16th century. They were followed later by the Kāti Māmoe, who conquered the Waitaha. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ngāi Tahu migrated to the area and subjugated the Kāti Māmoe.[7]
Christchurch became a city by royal charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Canterbury Association, which settled the Canterbury Plains, named the city after Christ Church, Oxford. The new settlement was laid out in a grid pattern centred on Cathedral Square; during the 19th century there were few barriers to the rapid growth of the urban area, except for the Pacific to the east and the Port Hills to the south. Agriculture is the historic mainstay of Christchurch's economy. The early presence of the University of Canterbury and the heritage of the city's academic institutions in association with local businesses has fostered a number of technology-based industries. Christchurch is one of five Antarctic gateway cities, hosting Antarctic support bases for several nations.[8]
The city's territorial authority population is 396,200 people, and includes a number of smaller urban areas as well as rural areas.[4] The population of the urban area is 384,800 people.[4] It is the major urban area of an emerging sub-region known as Greater Christchurch.[9] Notable smaller urban areas or satellite towns within this sub-region include Rangiora and Kaiapoi in Waimakariri District, north of the Waimakariri River, and Rolleston and Lincoln in Selwyn District to the south.
The city suffered a series of earthquakes between September 2010 and January 2012, with the most destructive occurring on 22 February 2011, in which 185 people were killed and thousands of buildings across the city suffered severe damage, with a few central city buildings collapsing. By late 2013, 1,500 buildings in the city had been demolished, leading to ongoing recovery and rebuilding projects. The city later became the site of a terrorist attack targeting two mosques on 15 March 2019.
Toponymy[edit]
The name Christchurch was adopted at the first meeting of the Canterbury Association on 27 March 1848. The reason it was chosen is not known with certainty, but the most likely reason is it was named after Christ Church, Oxford, the alma mater of many members of the association, including John Robert Godley. Christ Church college had similarities with the planned new city, including its own cathedral, the smallest in England.[10] Other possibilities are that it was named for Christchurch, Dorset, or for Canterbury Cathedral. Many of the early colonists did not like the name, preferring instead the name Lyttelton, but the Colonists' Council resolved to stick with the name of Christchurch in 1851, because it had been used by surveyors and distinguished the settlement from the port.[11]
The Māori name Ōtautahi, meaning 'the place of Tautahi', was adopted in the 1930s. Ōtautahi was the name of a specific site by the Avon River / Ōtākaro (near the present-day fire-station on Kilmore Street).[12] The site was a seasonal dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Pōtiki Tautahi, whose main home was Port Levy on Banks Peninsula, although a different account claims the Tautahi in question was the son of the Port Levy chief Huikai.[13] Prior to that, the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana,[14] an anglicised version.[15]
"ChCh" is sometimes used as an abbreviation of Christchurch.[16][17][18]
In New Zealand Sign Language, Christchurch is signed with two Cs.[19]
Utilities[edit]
Electricity[edit]
The Christchurch City Council established the city's first public electricity supply in 1903, and the city was connected to Coleridge Power Station in 1914. Until 1989, electricity distribution and retailing in Christchurch was the responsibility of four entities: the Christchurch City Council Municipal Electricity Department (MED), Riccarton Electricity, the Port Hills Energy Authority, and the Central Canterbury Electric Power Board. In 1989, all four companies entered a joint venture, named Southpower. The 1998 electricity sector reforms required all electricity companies to separate their distribution and retailing businesses. Southpower retained its distribution business and sold its retail business to Meridian Energy. In December 1998, the line's business was renamed Orion New Zealand.[287] Today, Orion owns and operates the local distribution network servicing the city, with electricity fed into it from two Transpower substations at Islington and Bromley.
The electricity distribution network in Christchurch suffered significant damage in the 2011 earthquakes, especially in the north-east, where the 66,000-volt subtransmission cables supplying the area were damaged beyond repair.[288] This necessitated major repairs to the existing infrastructure, as well as building new infrastructure to supply new housing developments.
At the 2013 census, 94.0% of Christchurch homes were heated wholly or partly by electricity, the highest in the country.[289]