Not Letting Go of the Arts After a Devastating Earthquake

For some cities, seeing their entire downtown leveled might signal the beginning of an unstoppable downward spiral. For Christchurch, New Zealand, however, the earthquake the city experienced in 2011 has actually kick-started a rebirth that has not just drawn international applause, but hopefully fired a permanent creative reboot for the city’s culture. Speaking Monday at The Atlantic’s CityLab 2015 summit in London, Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel outlined how her city is treating the rebound from natural disaster as a creative Year Zero.

“We’re not going back to what we were before—we can’t. What was there was gone. Instead, we’re changing the way we think, [asking] how do we embed a sense of vibrancy, energy, creativity and innovation into our rebuild?”