A BRAVE NEW CITY
21.06.14
"I want Christchurch to be a city for people and about people. The whole idea of this project is that it has to be humancentric. The focus needs to be about what people can experience in any given place, with any particular person rather than the focus being about how we can facilitate economic exchange." -Michael Reynolds
Designed to re-engage and inspire the citizens of Christchurch, 'A Brave New City' is a collection of conversations, thoughts and ideas aimed to collate our visions, hopes and dreams for how we want our future city of Christchurch to be.
How many cities around the world get to start from scratch? Christchurch is in a unique position today and we, as citizens have a one-time opportunity to re-design this blank canvas in whichever way we desire.
After losing faith in what is meant to be our democratic system and feeling that the public were not being heard, Michael decided to take matters into his own hands and embarked on creating the opportunity for the citizens of Christchurch to start re-examining the way our city is being run. What emerged was a public engagement project called ‘A Brave New City.’
Michael’s present aim is to create an avenue where the public can get more involved and share their ideas. His goal; to turn those dreams into reality through citizen initiated projects.
Since last year, Michael has been engaging the public with questions such as: Are we being represented fairly and accurately? Are we recognising how crucial the decision making process is for our redevelopment? Without our involvement, will we be able to truly accept the impact that these decisions will have on us in years to come? Are we really ok with having our decisions made for us? On what basis are they being made? How involved are we really and how can we be more involved? What do we want? What are the questions we should be asking?
I have been hugely inspired and excited by Michael’s faith in the humans of Christchurch and in his determination and tireless perseverance in working towards realising his own dreams and being an advocate for what he believes in.
'Make cycle-ways a priority over motorways. Build houses before stadiums and convention centers.'
'I'd like to see a rail system in Christchurch. If we had one, people would use it- tourists would use it! It would be much more useful than having queues and queues of taxi stands everywhere.'
"Im not talking about buildings. I'm talking about intangible things like what part does food production play in the future of Christhurch? How can we improve public transport? Human experience in Christchurch? What should public space be used for? All those sorts of things." -Michael Reynolds
'I'd like to see trees everywhere. Fruit and vege pathways!'
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'I'm working to restore the cathedral.'
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'Sometimes I just need to be inspired by other peoples ideas. It's amazing how similar our thoughts can be to one another without us realising it... and even then, perhaps we're just afraid to speak up until someone else does it first? Once one person speaks up though, suddenly it's gets the balls rolling and everyone follows! It's like jumping into a swimming pool! Once one goes, everyone goes!'
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'We want to steer people away from talking about building projects as such because we can't tell private land owners what to do with their land. It's their money, their land. What we can do though, is we can affect what they decide to do on their land by changing the areas around them- the public spaces. Lets challenge the idea of what a city 'should' look like. Must we be surrounded by concrete and glass all over again? Can there be more nature involved? I think the time has passed from relying on central and local governments to do it for us. -Michael Reynolds
'We need people with imagination and courage.' -MR
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'I'd like to see less destruction and more recycling.'
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After all, do we really want to rebuild what we had, but eventually evolve into this?
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Are green spaces in the central city really so new and scary that we're afraid to consider this?
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What about rooftop gardens?
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Now this is a good idea!!
To conclude:
"I'm fighting because I have two young daughters and I want this city to be an amazing place for them to grow up in. We can't afford to hand the city over to a bunch of bureaucrats to decide what's best for us. We know what's best for us so let's do it ourselves! It makes far more sense to find ways of getting things done ourselves than continuing to ask the council and Cera to do it for us. If we have the passion for it, the outcome will be much better for us than handing our ideas over to a group who don't necessarily share the same motives, passion or vision with the people in mind."
"I'm fighting because I have two young daughters and I want this city to be an amazing place for them to grow up in. We can't afford to hand the city over to a bunch of bureaucrats to decide what's best for us. We know what's best for us so let's do it ourselves! It makes far more sense to find ways of getting things done ourselves than continuing to ask the council and Cera to do it for us. If we have the passion for it, the outcome will be much better for us than handing our ideas over to a group who don't necessarily share the same motives, passion or vision with the people in mind."
