It's lunchtime on the shortest day of the year. Winter sunshine has lured office and construction workers, shoppers and tourists onto the streets of central Christchurch's retail precinct.

On days like these, you can glimpse of how the fully rebuilt city centre could be. People are relaxing on the riverbank, enjoying spicy lunches at the container mall, sipping coffee in the ANZ Centre cafe, browsing in shops along Cashel St, and lounging in beanbags in the BNZ Centre square.

Central Christchurch businesses want action to ensure high parking charges do not deter shoppers.

With post-earthquake free parking disappearing in the rebuild, motorists are facing fees of up to $5 an hour.

Most off-street parking in the central city is now controlled by specialist parking companies, with Hong Kong-based Wilson Parking at 40 locations including parking buildings.

SOLD BY TENDER.  Successful marketing campaign.  Tendered offer accepted.  Purchaser intends to occupy. 

Christchurch City Council has released a list of about 30 buildings and sites considered a barrier to the regeneration of Christchurch’s city centre.

Christchurch's container mall is preparing to close up shop.

The Re:Start mall was one of the first things to pop up in the city's derelict central business district after the February 2011 quake, as way of attracting retailers and shoppers back to the central city.

It's the mall no-one wants to close.

Central Christchurch's container mall, previously known as Re:Start, can stay at least another summer – and perhaps longer.

New owner Richard Peebles had planned to run the mall until October but after approaches from tenants, he has extended their leases until the end of January.

The Restart Container Mall was started by a non-profit trust to revitalise quake-hit central Christchurch, now they're passing the baton to the private sector.

In 2018, property investor Richard Peebles will build six new buildings at the site, including the Riverside Farmers' Market.

"We're trying to create something much different to the suburban malls, something earthier with fresh produce and small operators," he said.

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New dawns, fresh starts and tipping points have been announced so often in Christchurch that readers may be in a state of disbelief or extreme scepticism. City cheerleaders are at risk of being the boy who cried "recovery!" But there is no question that the official end of the Re:Start shopping mall on Sunday, April 30 is a milestone in recent Christchurch history.

In central Christchurch, empty sections turned car parks, derelict buildings, cranes, road cones and construction workers no longer dominate. Fancy restaurants, new offices, glossy shops, lanes and courtyards are giving pockets a Melbourne feel. CECILE MEIER takes a gander at three of them.

Central Christchurch businesses and non-profit groups want to hang onto a funding lifeline from ratepayers until the city centre gets back on its feet.

The Christchurch City Council has been making an annual contribution to the Central City Business Association's costs for the past decade, including promotions, events, marketing and security.

It now wants to cut this back to less than half its original contribution. From $150,000 a year before the earthquakes, the sum has been reduced to $100,000, and this year council has proposed in its draft annual plan to cut that further to $60,000.

Free car parking in the weekends is being investigated in a bid to bring more people back into the central city.

The city council is looking into whether free car parking could be offered on the weekends in the central city as an enticement.

City council transport operations manager Aaron Haymes said it was considering temporary free parking, but it had not made a final decision.

Christchurch business leaders are calling for the central city to find room for the little businesses priced out by the rebuild.

Construction and land costs have sharply pushed up central city rents, forcing out the small shops, service providers and non-profit organisations that were in cheap premises until the earthquakes.

Central City Business Association chairman Brendan Chase said such tenants could not live with "high rents or long leases".

Gerry Brownlee has waded into Christchurch's inner city roading row, threatening to cut funding if the plan isn't changed.

The multimillion-dollar An Accessible City project aims to create a "compact, people-friendly" central city, but the new cycleways, reduced parking, a 30kmh zone, narrowing of streets and project delays have caused controversy and led to a threat of legal action.

Cabinet this week authorised Brownlee, the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister, to suspend government funding of projects being led by the city council and Crown company Otakaro.

OPINION: It was a well-intentioned idea to make a better version of what we had. The new, accessible Christchurch that emerged from the earthquakes would be a haven for cyclists and pedestrians without impinging too much on motorists.

Abandoning An Accessible City would be dumping problems of congestion pollution on the next generation, writes 27-year-old ROSALEE JENKIN.

OPINION: Ever heard the phrase "you can't have your cake and eat it too"?

It's ringing loud and true in my ears these days, along with the sounds of construction and road works in central Christchurch – activities which are causing more than a little frustration.