Christchurch plans city Wi-Fi post-quake
Christchurch City Council has laid out an ambitious, decade-long plan to rebuild the city after last year's devastating earthquakes in the region. The plan includes free citywide Wi-Fi, an augmented reality memorial and a central ICT precinct.
(Centro Pompidou, Parigi image by Alessio Milan, CC BY-SA 2.0)
In partnership with the council's broadband company Enable Networks, Christchurch will build high-speed Wi-Fi internet around the city.
The Wi-Fi service will be built using New Zealand's high-speed fibre broadband initiative as a backbone, and will be deployed around the centre of Christchurch at a projected cost of NZ$350,000 to the council.
The council plans to have the service live by next year, served by partners including NZ Telecom and Trade Me, and migrated onto the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) network when the network becomes available.
The fast Wi-Fi service will be used by businesses to supply internet access to customers, and may even support other infrastructure projects in future, including smart energy meters.
"Completion of the network will enable the market to offer free public wireless hot spots and combined electricity and fibre systems in the city. This will position Christchurch at the forefront of global telecommunications technology, and has the potential to enhance business, tourism and living environments, and contribute positively to international perceptions of the city, its competitiveness and its attractiveness as a place to be," the council said in its rebuilding plan released on Friday.
The rebuild of the city's CBD will also see a focus on constructing a high-tech "Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus" (EPIC) in the centre of the city.
At a cost of NZ$120,000 to the council, the city will also build temporary office space, which will see 30 businesses and their 400 staff situated in the CBD.
In a second phase, the council will install a new modular campus, with the hopes of attracting more high-tech business to the area.
"The benefits of this development are twofold: in the first phase, it protects existing businesses and employment, and allows high-tech sectors to continue to grow.
"In the second phase, it acts as a catalyst for high-growth potential businesses and presents an opportunity for Christchurch to position itself as the key high-tech employer in New Zealand. This will help Christchurch attract a skilled international workforce and retain local graduates," the council said in its rebuilding proposal.
The earthquake, which struck Christchurch in February, measured 6.3 on the Richter Scale and saw buildings come crashing to the ground, trapping their occupants. 181 people died in the disaster, with thousands more injured and displaced.
The council, in its rebuilding operations, wanted to honour the city's past and the victims of the quake, and plans to construct an augmented reality memorial. People will be able to walk around the city with their smartphones and see what it looked like before the quake, and what it could look like in the future.
The plan to rebuild Christchurch was released for public comment on Friday, after extensive consultation with residents and businesses in and around the city.
The moves show that Christchurch wants to construct a smarter city out of the rubble, which a panel of smart building specialists at this year's IBM Pulse conference in the US had suggested.
The current plan is open for comment before its final presentation to the minister for earthquake recovery in December.