Between September 4, 2010 and December 23, 2011, Christchurch (New Zealand’s second-largest city), the Waimakariri and Selwyn districts, and surrounds were struck by a series of large earthquakes causing extensive land and property damage; one of them, on February 2, 2011, resulted in 185 fatalities. The case study outlines the New Zealand government’s response to earthquake-caused land damage in residential areas by way of a voluntary Crown offer to buy ‘red zone’ land from insured property owners, and demonstrates how effective community engagement enables people-centered implementation to occur.