One City, Or Two ?

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31981, 7 May 1969, Page 16

One City, Or Two ?

It is not easy to become enthusiastic about Mr Kirk’s idea of a satellite city on the western slopes of Mount Herbert. Certainly, a house on Mount Herbert would have a grander outlook than most Christchurch citizens enjoy. For many persons this fact might outweigh the physical problems of constructing a city there. Were industries attracted to the area the site would immediately lose most of its appeal Nevertheless, Mr Kirk has seized upon an idea that has been in the minds of town planners for some years: that a second city, more or less complete in itself, is preferable to the costly and socially undesirable sprawl of the present Christchurch.

No-one seems to have been able to prescribe the optimum size for a city. If the good and bad features of city life could be perfectly ordered, if the infinite variety of human needs could be reduced to a formula and expressed in a perfectly planned city, size might be of no importance. But then subsequent changes in industry, in prosperity, and in communal and individual ambitions would defeat the. most imaginative planners; In practice, the best that planners can do is advise cm the opportunities to repair the errors of the past and “ to “ reduce the possibility of irreversible mistakes ”. A city with the population of Christchurch is not usually much concerned about the political and environmental implications of having 300,000 or 400,000 people gathered in one community, For some this number is too great, for others too small to sustain many of the attractive features of city life. The question of numbers is socially and politically important, but Christchurch has become preoccupied with its size in terms of space and distance. The most conspicuous problems of this city are those of distribution and communication. If the common ambition to live in a house on a 26-perch suburban section is the factor that most determines the nature and size of the city—and creates most of its growth problems—then that is what the planners must provide for. The pressures of cost and convenience have already begun to make themselves felt in Christchurch and discussion on how to plan for growth by creating a second city is timely. A temporary answer should be found in redeveloping the centre of the present city to hold a greater concentration of people. This will be a sound answer only if sufficient people find the centre of the city and the kind of accommodation there attractive. Satellite towns are another answer and improved communications make this answer increasingly attractive. The final solution is a second city, to be built from scratch, and it is not too soon to consider where it should be for the prospective site must influence the way in which the present city is planned. Mr Kirk’s proposal emphasises the fact that for Christchurch, unlike many other cities, there is a. choice as to where a satellite city might be.