“Like you, I want to feel excitement and hope about our city”: ‘Christchurch the city’ in campaign material of the 2013 Christchurch City Council election

Abstract

The Christchurch City Council election of 2013 provides a compelling case study through which to consider the interaction between politics and city space. On the one hand, through the careful placement of campaign posters, politics encroached on the physical terrain of the city. On the other hand, candidates included in their campaign material multitudinous references to ‘Christchurch the city,’ demonstrating the extent to which the physical environment of the post-disaster city had become central to local politics.

Keywords:

• Christchurch
• city
• campaign
• election
• politics

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sally Carlton

SALLY CARLTON

Lincoln University, Ellesmere Junction Road/Springs Road, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand.

E-mail: [email protected]

Having completed a PhD in French History from the University of Western Australia (UWA), Sally spent 2011-2012 working as a Research Fellow at the Nepal Institute for Policy Studies (NIPS) with the Australian Youth Ambassador for Development (AYAD) programme. She has since moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, where she is doing a postdoctorate at Lincoln University investigating the notion of 're-humanising sustainability' and working part-time at the Canterbury Refugee Council. Her research interests include curricula, commemoration, urban regeneration, democratisation and human rights.