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THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION IN CHRISTCHURCH

JACKY LEE | DRAFT THESIS STATEMENT | MAY 2012

Since the United Nations publication of Our Common Future, sustainable developmenthas become a prominent concept in creating a more economical, social andenvironmentally friendly world. It was also in the 19th Century that the zoned planningsystem was developed, which meant areas were developed with single uses. While theaim was to improve quality of life, this approach was successful in that it preventedsocial injustices such as industry being adjacent to housing, but it has had other costlyconsequences on city developments. The largest of which is the nature of urban sprawl,which depends on automobiles to obtain most services. This sort of city developmentwas shaped by an era run by cheap oil. A system which seemed to run efficiently backthen, is now problematic due to the growth of population and private vehicle ownershipover the past few decades.

Christchurch, like most cities, has been progressively shaped by the evolution oftransport technologies from walking to transit and automobile. This had enabled cities toform a new style of development, which resulted in a push outwards. This is coined by

Newman as the "one hour wide city", which meant that cities could easily spread up tofifty kilometers as long as the commute time stays within one hour. This is a naturalevolution of cities and are "understandable but not wholly beneficial" (Coupland, 1997).The existing transport network in Christchurch favors people to drive cars. It is perceivedas the easiest, most convenient way to travel. Thus the growth of private vehicle hasreached 0.8 vehicles per capita in 2008

To Christchurch's credit, they have a public bus network, but because of the urbansprawl it is inefficient and therefore has a relatively low patronage. However in the wake

of the recent earthquakes, now is the perfect time to re-think its transport network tofuture proof the shortage of petroleum and energy as we concede that crisis is often the

best catalyst for change. The cordoned off city centre further accentuates the demand ofa new transport solution as roadways suffer from congestions, adding to drivers'frustrations. What was then a mono-centric city is now gradually transforming into amulti-nodal city as business begins their shift outside of the city center. The recent draftplan proposed by the Christchurch City Council (CCC) in December 2011 addressed theissues of public transportation by re-introducing light-rail back into the city. Howeverthere is a constant lack of evidence provided by the CCC to convince the government tohelp fund the $1.8 billion package, especially knowing that mass rapid transit will only beeffective when provided with sufficient population density. Therefore the large investmentfunds into state highways and road widening from the government has long been theonly answer to resolve road congestion. This thesis discusses the notion that

Christchurch is categorizing itself in the "City of Fear" instead of "City of Hope"(Newman, 2009)

"Cities of fear make decisions based on short-term, even panicked, responses; cities of

hope plan for the long term, with each decision building towards that vision, hopeful that

some of the steps will be tipping points that lead to fundamental change. Cities of fear

engage in competition as their only driving force, while cities of hope build consensus

around cooperation and partnership. Cities of fear see threats everywhere while cities of

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THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION IN CHRISTCHURCH

JACKY LEE | DRAFT THESIS STATEMENT | MAY 2012

hope see opportunities to improve in every crisis." (Newman, 2009)

This thesis aims to dissect the current conditions of Christchurch's transportationnetwork, its effects on the economy, and the benefits of public transportinvestment.Preventing urban sprawl by densifying Christchurch is one of the manyagendas to allow for successful public transport. The synergy of land-use andtransportation will also be covered as these are all crucial factors for designing a trulyresilient city where people are given a choice of transportation modes other than thecurrent car-centric form.

Within the New Zealand context Christchurch has the highest vehicle ownership, with 0.8cars per capita and 2.5 cars per household. Its car use pattern suggests that 95% ofwork travels to work are occupied by a single person, the driver. This thesis aims totarget the problem of single-occupancy vehicles through innovative solutions to re-think

the way we perceive our personal vehicles by turning empty seats into useful resources.The problem is not the number of cars we own, but how we travel makes a significantdifference to the community. Controlling car-use has multiple rippling effect such as therelief of stress on road congestion, relief stress on road widening investment, andconsequently allowing more funds for the improvement of public transport.

Cars also take up a lot of spaces, more than we like to think so. In fact, theunderestimate calculations suggest that 55% of the Cathedral Square area unit is filledwith car parks that can accommodate at least 2,000 single detached house units. Mygoal is therefore targeting the adverse effects of the abundant amount of car parks

Christchurch has, and utilize them much more usefully that contribute to a hopefulvision:A Multimodal Traveling City.