Renewing Christchurch & Rethinking Resilience: 2

WHAT IS A CULTURAL PLAN?

Christchurch is like every city in that it has a personality that reflects its history, diversity, “sense of place”, and the values, needs, and dreams of its residents. Many things contribute to how people experience their city and local community: traditions, neighbourhoods, weather, landscape, natural environment, schools, leadership, businesses, parks, housing, and the ebb and flow of events and activities.

One thing is essential in shaping a city's personality – and that is how people see, feel, and connect with its cultural life. A community's culture is expressed in many ways - through art, music, theatre, dance, and film – but also in food, architecture, urban planning, public places and institutions, cultural traditions, media, and new ideas.

Why plan?

Arts and cultural activities do happen on their own through the energy and dreams of creative individuals and organisations, and in times of crisis like post-earthquake in the efforts of people and organisations as they try to make sense of the new reality and get on with life in a changed and changing environment. Sometimes these activities are helped by providing spaces, funding, collaborations, and other resources. And sometimes there needs to be a much greater public engagement with cultural activity – for example when it is at the heart of any transition or change process.

Planning can map out Christchurch's arts and cultural assets, needs, opportunities, resources, and priorities to help create strategies and guide actions for the community to further develop the cultural sector. But planning can and must go further than that if Christchurch wants the sort of renewal that is needed now – which is not really a “post earthquake” renewal, rather it is a “seismic reality” renewal.

Why plan now?

Christchurch has always recognised the importance of the arts and culture. Around the world, creativity is touted as an indispensable resource for civic vitality and prosperity. Studies have measured the impact of the cultural sector Christchurch in annual economic activity in terms of jobs and revenues. Christchurch rightly wants to ensure that its community remains a hotbed of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial energy, and the Draft Christchurch Central City Plan advocates initiatives that can underpin that aspiration.

But there is an unusual cultural change opportunity now, which is not being seized by Christchurch planners. That is the need to shift Christchurch culture from one of environmental certainty, to one of seismic uncertainty. That need is not being seized primarily because of the very human hope that the earthquakes will stop. And not come back for a very long time. Creative energy has hit an unusual peak in Christchurch following the sequence of earthquakes.

There is a grassroots recognition that things cannot be the same. There is evidence of cultural activity which brings the arts into urban planning and architecture. There is evidence of cultural events where science and art are coming together in new ways as people try to make sense of the unfamiliar landscape that Christchurch and Canterbury has become. Long term renewal of Christchurch requires a plan that engages with and influences the need for fundamental cultural change in Christchurch.

(This is a short section of my report: Renewing Christchurch & Rethinking Resilience - A Cultural Plan. If you want the whole thing - please contact me.)