The Christchurch urban environment survey

Abstract

This report aims to provide the Christchurch Civic Pride Organization with a base set of information to enable planning and co-ordination of its future activities. The report describes residents' attitudes to city beautification, present council services, recycling and litter. A section is included on communications, and profiles are developed which describe respondents from each section. The majority of Christchurch residents do take pride in their city however, there are some areas of concern. Ensuring that the cost of future shopping area development is apportioned fairly between those commercial organizations who benefit and the rate payer. When designing future developments such as malls, it is necessary to take account of access problems such as parking. This is particularly relevant considering the aging population. Most residents appear satisfied with the gate collection of household refuse. The increasing use of commercial rubbish removal organizations by higher income groups may be in response to the population's lack of understanding and acceptance of transfer stations. Those who are reluctant to use metro refuse stations tend to be older people or those on lower incomes. Of those who have visited, the majority consider the charges too high and this may contribute to the move to commercial refuse removal. There appear to be strong economic considerations which motivate residents' behaviour in rubbish disposal and hence there is an increasing level of acceptance of burning rubbish. Although the skip schemes seem reasonably well patronized there is concern about adequate communication about this facility. Recycling of products could be improved through developing co-ordinated and on-going programmes. One such financially viable option is to provide a facility for the collection of recycled engine oil. It would appear that should there be a market for recyclable material then gate collection would be the system supported most by the public. Most residents perceive there to be a greater 'city-wide' problem than one pertaining to specific areas. However, there were some suburbs which were considered to have a litter problem. Paper, food containers and cans seem to be the most commonly perceived littered items. Although air pollution is considered a form of litter, restricting the burning of rubbish, or wood or coal for heating seems to be an economic consideration. It was noticeable that those on lower incomes support burning. It is considered, by the majority who visit them, that a litter problem exists on local beaches. The majority of residents would like to see more rubbish bins around the city and are prepared to accept commercial sponsorship to achieve this. Less than half the local population identify hygene as being a basic reason for rubbish disposal. There is a low awareness of Civic Pride in Christchurch, however, there was a greater level of recognition of Civic Pride statements. There appears to be a communication problem between the public and various authorities which hopefully may be solved through the more efficient use of appropriate media. Those who are conscious of the environment do not vary greatly by age, occupation or income. However, those who are either apathetic or careless about their surroundings do have distinguishing characteristics. This group are between 22 000 and 38 000 in number and there is a predominance of them in certain suburbs. These are explained in more detail in Chapter 7. In order that programmes are planned and implemented with a greater level of success it is important to understand the characteristics of various target segments. One of the key functions in such programmes, and one which to date seems to have been less than effective, is communication. In order to assist in this area it is even more important to identify target segments and design and implement the most appropriate communications campaign.