Regional Travel / Rediscovering Christchurch and all it has to offer*
With plenty to delight the senses, it is high time to explore Christchurch.
It was once said all roads led to Rome, the heart of a great people, bustling with culture and trade, a beacon for surrounding areas.
Not all roads lead to Christchurch, but a fair few state highways do, winding across our beautiful region, bringing in people from around Canterbury and Te Waipounamu, our South Island. For generations, particularly for families from the busy farming plains of Canterbury, Ōtautahi Christchurch has long been the ‘big smoke’.
When was the last time you visited Christchurch? Like, really visited Christchurch – spent a few nights, explored the city centre streets, and got to grips with the full flavour of the city? For those that haven’t done this in the last few years, expect a surprise next time you visit.
Yes, the skyline is different, and some recognisable landmarks are gone. In their place, progress.
Christchurch is now home to the country’s safest buildings and most accessible city centre. New shops sit at the
base of architectural buildings, central-city housing has risen from empty spaces, residents excited about their new urban life. It’s time for you to come back and see what we’ve been up to.
The city has changed, particularly over the last 18 months. New developments have turned once-empty city blocks into gathering spaces, eateries and entertainment hubs. Progress has meant the still-empty spaces now look like hope and potential, rather than a symbol of a quake-hit city.
Ōtautahi is beginning to explore its identity as the world’s newest city. Rarely does a community have the chance to reinvent its offering, its public face for visitors, the way it uses public space. From playgrounds designed by the children who now play in it, to new laneways and retail areas that cherish the old and celebrate the new.
Christchurch bustles with creativity and innovation, teeming with cafés and shops tucked between unique public spaces. Dusty retail areas of your parents’ generation
‘To be here, watching a city grow in front of our eyes – could there be a more
exciting prospect?’
have been reinvented. Much of what made Christchurch Christchurch has been rejuvenated.
The city still values its Garden City title, the classic Ōtautahi of trams, trees and heritage, but there’s a new energy in the air, an air of exploration. The juxtaposition of the old and the new gives us an edge. We are now home to the country’s most modern cinema complex, as well as the South Island’s newest and most impressive public library. Edgy architecture can be found on most street corners, as can street art rivalling the world’s best.
The city’s economic development and promotions agency ChristchurchNZ launched an Explore Christchurch campaign in 2018, designed to reignite local love for Ōtautahi, as well as encourage visitors to flock south.
‘Our city is built on the spirit of exploration,’ said Tim Loftus, ChristchurchNZ’s General Manager of Marketing. ‘The stories of Ōtautahi Christchurch and its people, its pioneers, read like an adventure novel – a benchmark to live up to. As a 21st-century city, a gateway to the South Island, and a launching pad for scientific exploration in Antarctica, Christchurch continues to punch above its weight for innovation and challenging the status quo.
‘To be here, watching a city grow in front of our eyes – could there be a more exciting prospect?’
It’s time to visit Christchurch. Be the people in your circle to check out New Zealand’s newest city, and return home with tales of surprise. Ōtautahi is not the city you remember.