Dramatic changes reshaping Christchurch's Cathedral Square to attract people and events have been unveiled for public consultation.

Green spaces with trees and waterways, no through traffic, temporary buildings to attract the arts and creative activities, areas for public events, and spaces for young people are key aspects of the draft plan.

The ideas have been generated by a joint Christchurch City Council and Crown rebuild authority Regenerate Christchurch group. They now want feedback before settling on details of design and funding. Parts of the design could be in place next year.

Cathedral Gardens.

Regenerate Christchurch chief executive Ivan Iafeta said they wanted the square to be different from, and much better than, it was before the earthquakes.

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"We want to bring life back into the city centre. We want to know what will attract people back," Iafeta said.

SUPPLIED The proposed new Cathedral Square zones.

The square has to be a destination, not just a place to pass through."

The square will be reshaped to to create three connected spaces.

Temporary buildings, which could be replaced later by permanent ones, would help "activate" spaces and form a sheltered courtyard in the north-west corner by the Convention Centre.

SUPPLIED A night time event in the redesigned Cathedral Square.

The biggest of the three spaces - Post Office Place on the southern side - would hold up to 10,000 people for public events such as festivals, concerts and sports fan zones.

Library Plaza in the northeast corner in front of the new public library would have flexible street furniture and be designed to attract smaller public events and young people.

On the east and southern side of the Christ Church Cathedral site would be Cathedral Gardens, a series of landscaped gardens with water features intended as a "tranquil, family-friendly refuge".

Library Plaza.

The plan included improving links to the square by upgrading surrounding lanes and streets. Through traffic, except perhaps for public transport like the tram, would go. New forms of transport such as light rail, electric shuttles or an aerial gondola were other possibilities.

Iafeta described the plan as a "conversation starter".

Special powers under the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Act could be used to make the changed needed, he said.

SUPPLIED Post Office Place.

After a three-week public consultation period, plans will be finalised and then go to the city council and Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Nicky Wagner.

At a city leaders' forum on Monday night, Iafeta said there could be "slow passageways" for vehicles accessing hotels or the Convention Centre.

"We do recognise that for hotels and for conventions ... vehicle access is important."

Buildings around a redesigned square.

Regenerate Christchurch's general manager of regeneration planning, Jim Lunday, said funding sources would be part of the finalised plan. More than the $9 million already jointly set aside by council and central government would be needed.

"We are not talking about new money coming in. We are talking about reshuffling the priorities of existing funders."

Lunday said while the plan would be done in stages, they needed areas be ready for the opening of the new library and Distinction Christchurch hotel in a year's time.

Private property owners had told them they wanted a clear vision for the area, Lunday said.

"The clock is ticking. Without this investment, we cannot expect the private sector to invest here or residents to come and live here.

"We need the density of people back to help activate this area."

Some of the designs would be temporary or transitional and could be adapted while the city developed, Lunday said.

Council staff were already starting to clear the way for redevelopment of the square by getting private owners to tidy sites and clear barriers around damaged buildings.

Plans are available for the public to see at engage.regeneratechristchurch.nz. Brochures have also been produced.

A previous $9.2m square redevelopment plan was shelved last year because of uncertainty over anchor projects including the convention centre. If the plan had gone ahead, the square would have been redeveloped by early this year.

RESPONSE POSITIVE, BUT SHADE CONCERNS

Landscape designer and Christchurch urban design panellist Di Lucas welcomed the plan, particularly its focus on the natural habitat.

"It's a good opportunity to recognise the natural character of the area, and that's what people want to see."

Lucas said there were already streams flowing under the square, so the water concept should not be hard to implement.

"There could be an elegant, useful solution recognising the under layers as well as the over layers of the square."

She liked the plan's reworking of spaces to provide shelter and "different friendly spaces" to encourage public gatherings.

City Owners Rebuild Entity chairman and Cathedral Junction developer Ernest Duval hoped the square's new buildings would not block sun or the view of the cathedral.

"They need to be the right scale and not too high."

Duval believed the plan needed to be flexible enough for later generations to make changes.

One of the square's food and drink caravan proprietors, who declined to be named, was concerned about the new buildings casting shade.

He wanted the square to feel open, not compressed.

Gordon Chamberlain, owner of the old Post Office building and the former Warners site, said the plan "looks good to me". He liked the traffic changes, and the indoor-outdoor flow the plan would create around buildings.

THE NEW SPACES:

​Library Plaza

North-east corner

Between library and cathedral

Flexible, social space

Holds up to 5000 people

Youth focus

Cathedral Gardens

South and east

Landscaped, connected gardens

Family friendly

Cultural and iwi inspiration

Water for play and relaxation

Post Office Place

Western end

Premier open air event space

Festivals, concerts, fan zones

Holds up to 10,000 people

New buildings for arts, creative use