Cantabrians' pride in their city is growing louder by the day and it should be. Photo / George Heard
Cantabrians' pride in their city is growing louder by the day and it should be. Photo / George Heard
OPINION:
When I arrived in Christchurch from Auckland in 2014, most of the cranes in the city were still taking buildings down. Rightly, the earthquakes cast a shadow over people's confidence and their sense of place in the world.
What I've witnessed leading up to and through the pandemic is very much the rebirth of a New Zealand city. Christchurch is no longer a post-quake project... it is back, and better than ever!
Large portions of the city have been rebuilt. But more importantly, the emotional connection between people and place is mending.
Post-quake Christchurch challenged people in many different ways. Now, Cantabrians' pride in their city is growing louder by the day, and it should be - Christchurch is world-class.
World-class is a mindset. It's not a size and it's not a location. It is a mindset, and Christchurch is filled with examples of world-class mindsets.
Christchurch Airport CEO Malcolm Johns. Photo / George Heard
The Crusaders meticulously planning a raid into enemy territory (I'm a Chiefs guy and they were robbed in the semi…) and coming away triumphant is a world-class mindset. The innovation that sits behind companies like Seequent, Hamilton Jet, Skope and many other small-to-medium-sized companies that are global experts in their fields comes from world-class mindsets.
Canterbury University developing a 14-hectare Digital Screen Campus, and its place in the top 3 per cent of universities globally, is the result of a world-class mindset.
The Christchurch Airport team setting global standards in carbon reduction, being asked by international companies to teach them how to follow suit, and taking our business beyond carbon-neutral to climate-positive is a world-class mindset (biased, I know, but justifiably proud).
The emotional connection between people and place is repairing in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard
This world-class mindset makes Christchurch the city of opportunity.
Sure, you can get bogged down in the little bits that are negative. But the reality is, those who are discovering post-pandemic Christchurch for the first time are seeing the butterfly coming out of the chrysalis.
Optimism is the highest it's been since the earthquakes.
People are fired up, excited for the future and ready to seize the opportunities this place offers. And there are many - the opportunity to work on meaningful and impactful stuff at a world-class level, the opportunity to educate your kids at diverse and exceptional schools, and for young people to own their own first home. It is all here.
This is the Goldilocks city - big enough to have world-class amenities and experiences, yet small enough to forgo the stressors of life in larger cities.
Sure, the mountains, forests and sea are genuinely accessible, but the real benefit of living in Christchurch is the city's ability to give you the space and time you need to have real balance in your life. It's 15 minutes to everywhere.
Malcolm Johns is chief executive of Christchurch International Airport
