Due to its scale, this project has the potential to affect perceptions about the city, not only in the short term but for many years into the future. It is, in effect, a rare kind of project in New Zealand, where landscape architecture has come into its own in the ability to shape a city’s future, through the design of movement and place.

An initial Sense of Place study defined the visual and cultural contexts that have historically made Christchurch an appealing place for both residents and visitors. The geographical context of its place on the Canterbury Plains – sitting on a deep bed of alluvial gravels, sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and Southern Alps, and between the Waimakiriri River and Port Hills – was a natural base to work with.