The mayor of San Francisco at the time of the US city's devastating earthquake in 1989 has warned rebuilding Christchurch will take years and hard decisions will have to be made.
The 6.3-magnitude quake on 22 February caused severe damage to central Christchurch and other parts of the city, killing 181 people.
Art Agnos is visiting Christchurch and says its plight is far worse than his city's, as large parts of both the commercial area and residential suburbs have been badly damaged in the February quake.
Mr Agnos says decisions about the future of San Francisco were made locally, whereas the New Zealand Government is heavily involved in the rebuild through the establishment of a new department, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority.
The former mayor questioned whether he could have worked within a system that did not leave the decision-making entirely in local hands.
The quake and resulting fire is one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States and the death toll has been put at over 3000.