2011 was a tough year for the people of Christchurch. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the city, devastating the infrastructure and killing 185 people. It also triggered aftershocks lasting for months, causing its citizens to live in fear. It was the world’s third most expensive disaster at that point of time. Fast forward years later, the city began slowly rebuilding. Chief amongst its plans was to rebuild playgrounds and new family-friendly places. Thus, the Margaret Mahy Family Playground was born.

Opened in 2015, the playground is named after Margaret Mahy (1936 – 2012), a famous children’s author in New Zealand. Consisting of a four-metre wide slide, spider climbing net, flying foxes and water features, it is believed to be the largest playground in the Southern hemisphere. During the process of construction, children were also encouraged to give their ideas on how the playground should look like, and gave feedback on what they loved and improvements to be made. Divided into four areas to reflect Canterbury’s landscape, the playground continues to grow today, as more features are being progressively added.