It is now over a year and a half since the September 2010 quake. There is a lot of empty space in the CBD, with further building clearances to come. It is very disorientating for locals as well as for visitors when walking around the city because so many familiar landmarks are no longer there.

The aerial view clearly shows some of the changes in Cathedral Square, with the partial demolition of the Anglican cathedral and other buildings. 

The aerial view above also shows a V shaped wall of red shipping containers. Shipping containers are in regular use in Christchurch, not only for transporting and storing goods. They are the star attraction in the temporary shopping mall (“Box City”), but they are familiar sights elsewhere too. They can be seen stacked up alongside some roads and around buildings to protect them from further damage from falling debris during aftershocks.

In May 2012 Christchurch City Council Councillors voted for a pause on deconstruction of the cathedral. The vote had no power to stop the deconstruction work, but on 2nd July 2012 the deconstruction work was halted and an independent engineers' report on the cathedral, which was commissioned by the Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, was studied. The cost of rebuilding the cathedral appeared to be prohibitive, there continue to be safety concerns and the church's needs have changed, so the church intended to demolish a significant part of the cathedral to 2 - 3 metres from the ground. It did not intend to develop a plan to stabilise and restore the cathedral. However, in April 2013 three options were proposed. All three cost several million dollars, and will take several years to build, although the Anglican leadership appears to prefer the cheapest and quickest option. However, Bishop Victoria Matthews said that the church will listen to the public's views.

• Option 1, restore: Costs $103m - $221m, takes 6.5 - 22 years. Rebuild the original Cathedral using original materials, with added earthquake strengthening.
• Option 2, traditional: Costs $85m - $181m, takes 5 - 22 years. Very similar to the original Cathedral design, but using a lightweight timber structure.
• Option 3, contemporary: Costs $56m - $74m, timeframe 4.5 - 9.5 years. New lightweight structure, very different to original design, but retains features such as the iconic Rose Window.

For photos of these options see http://www.radiolive.co.nz/PHOTOS-New-ChristChurch-Cathedral-options/tabid/815/articleID/34489/Default.

In contrast, Christchurch's modern glass-fronted Art Gallery suffered minimal damage but is currently closed because it is no longer sitting level. The council proposes to spend $36.7 million to jack up the building, and it will install seismic base isolation technology: this will reduce the building's exposure to ground motion in a big quake, and will help it to return to an undamaged position when the shaking ends. Seismic isolation keeps buildings intact during earthquakes by separating them from the ground using isolation devices which dissipate energy. Esentially the building will sit on base-isolation units similar to the lead-rubber bearings under Christchurch Women’s Hospital, or at Wellington's Te Papa Museum and the NZ Parliament Buildings. 

Oxford Terrace Baptist Church was one of the many buildings in central Christchurch which was demolished following the earthquake on 22nd February 2011. On the first anniversary of the quake Peter Majendie and other church members prepared a memorial of 185 white chairs to commemorate the 185 victims of that earthquake. The chairs sat on freshly laid lawn where the church had once stood. Each chair was different to represent the unique personalities of these people, who were drawn from 20 nations.