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Story: Historic places

Demolition city

This aerial view of Christchurch's central business district in early 2013 shows the extent of the demolition undertaken following the 2011 earthquake – and more buildings were demolished subsequently. Most of the demolished buildings were older structures that were deemed too unsafe by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to retain. This assumption was vigorously disputed by heritage advocates, who argued many buildings could have been easily strengthened if there had been the will to do so.

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Ross Becker & Moira Fraser

Reference: ROSS6132.jpg

by Ross Becker

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How to cite this page

Ben Schrader, Historic places – Recent developments, 2010s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/42147/demolition-city (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ben Schrader, published 4 July 2013, updated 19 August 2016.