The Christchurch Botanic Gardens: their place in contemporary urban and tourism development

Abstract

The meaning and purpose of urban public space is constantly being contested and changed by people who associate with it and give it meaning. Botanic Gardens are no exception. Botanic Gardens established in the late 19th Century were given particular meanings associated with the acclimatisation of new plants and as they have developed and changed so have the meanings initially attributed to them. My thesis explores the conflicts that have arisen over the competing definitions of spaces in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. I examine the history of the Gardens and conclude my discussion with an analysis of the ways in which the Christchurch Botanic Gardens have been promoted as a tourism site. As a consequence of this development the managers of the Botanic Gardens have had to accommodate an increase in visitor numbers and associated commercialisation of activities. Local residents, particularly those aligned with community groups with significant and longstanding interests in the Gardens, have reacted to these changes by their 'sense of place' with respect to spaces in the Gardens. These developments are discussed with reference to debates about the contested meanings of urban space and the ways in which political, cultural and commercial processes work themselves at the local level.