The city we know as Ōtautahi, Christchurch dates back to the mid 19th century, when an English group known as the Canterbury Association decided to establish a colony in New Zealand. Headed by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and John Robert Godley, the capital of the settlement was to be called Christchurch, after Godley’s college at Oxford University. The land – made of swampland, marshland and grassland – had already been occupied by Māori since the 12th century, and the first Europeans didn’t truly establish themselves until the 1840s with the Deans family’s farm, where they built the first European house on the Canterbury Plains. They named the area Riccarton, and the nearby river the Avon. Captain Joseph Thomas and Edward Jollie were responsible for planning the city that the Canterbury Association wanted, complete with the principles and ideals of colonial cities at the time.

The first four ships of settlers arrived in the portside town of Lyttelton in December 1850. Separated from the plains by the Port Hills, it took some time and effort to move everyone and everything to the other side, but by 1851 the city was beginning to take shape. Over the years, the population of Christchurch increased steadily and business from farming enabled the region to prosper. In 1856, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter and saw the construction of many significant buildings before the turn of the century. Architect Benjamin Mountfort was behind many familiar Gothic Revival structures, such as the Christ Church Cathedral, Provincial Council Buildings, Arts Centre and Museum.
It was during this time that the new settlers of Christchurch became aware of significant earthquakes. In 1869, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake damaged many stone buildings in the city, prompting the design of a new church to be made from timber. In December 1881 – as the Cathedral was being constructed – damage was done to the spire. In 1888 an earthquake with a magnitude 7-7.3 centred in North Canterbury caused the Cathedral spire to fall. And finally in 1901, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake near Cheviot toppled the spire for the third time, dictating that it be rebuilt in timber and metal instead of stone.

The 20th century brought industrialisation to the city, bringing the population to 100,000. In 1950, Christchurch became the first city in New Zealand to have an International Airport and in 1964, gained the title of New Zealand’s longest road tunnel – from Christchurch to Lyttelton. The narrative of the city’s recent history has been dominated by disaster: from 2010 the greater region of Canterbury fought through two major earthquakes: The first on 4 September 2010, the second a little over five months later, on 22 February 2011. 185 people were killed in the second quake, and thousands of aftershocks shook the city in the months and years that followed.