New York Times Names Christchurch as 2nd Best Place to Visit in 2014

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The New Zealand city Christchurch was named by the New York Times on Monday as the second best city in the world. The influential daily came up with the list of 52 places to visit in 2014.

The city was heavily damaged by a major earthquake in 2011, but two years after the event, Christchurch is alive once again and brimming with creativity and wit as enterprising residents and volunteers find ways to temporarily convert unused land to help revive the city.

Ahead of ChristChurch is Cape Town in South Africa, while on third place is North Coast in California.

New York Times cited in particular the Gap Filler programme of ChristChurch that created an open-air performance space using blue pallet, a dance floor run using coin-operated music and lights and a nine-hole mini-golf course in vacant lots.

The daily likewise gave an honorary mention to the cathedral designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban which is actually a transitional church.

Explaining how it selected the places in the anticipated annual list, New York Times said it initial gets ideas from contributing writers who are often based overseas. To qualify, there must be a compelling reason to suggest a place in the coming year such as a museum opening, new transportation option or a historical anniversary, which explains why famous and exciting cities such as Paris, London and Tokyo are not on the roster.

The suggested places are thoroughly tackled in marathon sessions and then the list is trimmed, using a mixture of scale to include cities, regions and even nations.

In selecting Cape Town as the top choice, the New York Times cited the recent death of former South African President Nelson Mandela made the choice more meaningful because while incarcerated on Robben Island, he often gazed at the city from his cell.

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Here are the remaining 7 places to visit of the top 10.