If the vision is realised, the people of Canterbury will have a 21st-century city of which they, and the rest of the country, can be proud. Each item on the wish-list of a progressive city planner has been ticked off. Large green spaces. Low-rise, environmentally friendly buildings. Convention, cultural and sports centres.
They've even thrown in a covered stadium for good measure.
Mayor Bob Parker welcomed the plan, which he said was "a vision to make Christchurch strong, vibrant and liveable".
The initial response from business leaders was also positive.
Nobody, however, is pretending there is not a long, challenging road ahead if the blueprint is to be implemented as envisaged.
Animated virtual reality is one thing. Securing community consensus, finding and allocating the money and pouring the concrete are different matters altogether. We note, too, that there were no costings available for the ambitious proposition.
The treacherous issue of property acquisition already looms as a significant roadblock to the feel-good factor of the project.
About 800 properties in the CBD will have to be bought by the Government for the plan to be realised. This has set alarm bells ringing among landowners who had their own ideas of how the city should be rebuilt - and are justifiably concerned about getting a fair price for their land.
With many people elsewhere in the city battling to get what they consider to be a fair payout for ruined properties, the potential for further rancour seems inevitable.
Prime Minister John Key has already set out the Government's stall by declining to say how much money is in the pot for the buy-up. Mr Key explained that revealing a figure would be "giving away the negotiating hand of the Government and would not make a lot of sense".
He is correct that it probably would be unwise. But the Government has to be careful not to make this a "them and us" situation and risk alienating the city. At this early stage, even a suggestion of adversarial language is hardly reassuring for those affected.
The Government must also tip-toe along a tightrope between community enhancement and what could be perceived as luxury projects. A new roofed stadium, if Dunedin's experience is anything to go by, could easily fall into that category.
While Canterbury has a proud and successful sporting heritage, a covered stadium will be seen by many as a bridge too far in a city where many residents still lack the basic infrastructure - toilets, in some instances - needed for a decent standard of living. Mr Key has already weighed in on the subject, backing a new 35,000-seat facility as "the right step to take".
It is to be hoped, however, that each component of the blueprint is thoroughly tested in the court of public opinion before any financial commitment is made. Just because there are billions of dollars set aside does not mean the allocation of each dollar should not be carefully weighed.
The CBD rebuild has the potential to give Christchurch the unity it has been seeking since the earthquake fractured the city; a common goal for a badly bruised population to work towards. But the plan also has the potential to be divisive.
Those charged with its implementation should move with purpose but also great care.
In some cases, decisiveness will be called for. Other situations will require flexibility and a willingness to compromise.
Above all, decision-makers must keep a keen ear to the community who will have to live with their decisions.
