Some recent reaction to moves to revive the inner city has got me wondering if my preference to move swiftly from problems to positive solutions is always the best road to follow. In the last year or so it has been widely known that I, and other members and staff of Christchurch City Council, have been looking hard at overseas examples of inner city revival. We have also consulted widely with the public and the people with a direct stake in keeping the inner city alive and vibrant. We may not have done enough to spell out the realities of what happens in places where inner city decline is allowed to go unchecked.
Cities die when they ignore the problems of declining inner centres.
The inner city collapses into a morass of crime, neglect and decay. At other times the collapse of social and economic cohesion is enough to send the entire city into a spiral of decay, decline and desertion. Another bleak fact that I have learnt is that cities that don't take charge of their own destiny and direction can just fade away in today's fast-moving world. It may be wounding to our vanity as a city to even entertain the idea but the reality is the wider world owes us nothing. If we in turn offer it nothing people will see no reason to visit here.