The 6.3 magnitude February 2011 Christchurch earthquake devastated the mall; the façades of many buildings collapsed and there were several fatalities.

The establishment of City Mall saw the numbers increase to 25,000 again, but the overall downward trend continued after that, albeit starting at the higher level of the 1983 count.

[12] The concept of a pedestrian mall in Cashel and High Streets was first developed in the 1965 central city redevelopment study.

[5] A year later, Cuba Mall was established in Wellington, the success of which gave other cities the confidence to advance their plans for pedestrianising streets.

[13] In 1976, the Bridge of Remembrance was closed to traffic, reserving the short Cashel Street link between Oxford and Cambridge Terraces over the Avon River / Ōtākaro for pedestrians.

[5] In 1998, Christchurch City Council redeveloped the adjacent section of Oxford Terrace, which became known as The Strip, and narrowed the road to a one-way street.

It was the prime night-time entertainment hub in Christchurch over the next decade, until increasing competition from newer developments took its toll.

[19] An alliance contract was entered into between Christchurch City Council as the client, Isthmus Group as the designer, and Downer EDI Works as the contractor.

[18] Mayor Garry Moore and Central City Business Association chairman Antony Gough started the work with a symbolic lifting of the first brick on 10 August 2007.

On the return journey, trams would travel north-west along High Street, including the City Mall part of it.

Young people protested strongly about the demolition of Hack Circle on the corner of Cashel and High Streets, as it was seen as an attempt to push them out of City Mall.

Antony Gough, owner of several properties along The Strip,[22] was an advocate of stronger security for City Mall, particularly the Hack Circle, telling The Press that the people who associate there "are just very scary".

[23] Police arrested several young people during the mall redevelopment, including 13 teenagers when the demolition of Stewart Fountain began.

Demolition of the fountain began on 13 August 2007 and 13 young people were arrested in the resulting demonstration; Sir Robertson Stewart had died that morning.

[19] The central city was closed for a week after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 September 2010; some buildings were damaged, including parapets collapsing.

The wall of the adjacent former Zetland Hotel collapsed and crashed through the roof; anybody standing in the restaurant's bar area would likely have been killed, but it was still closed that morning.