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Suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand
the suburb

Sydenham is an inner suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, two kilometres south of the city centre, on and around the city's main street, Colombo Street. It is a residential, retail and light industrial suburb.

While the Sydenham area had seen development from the earliest days of European settlement in Christchurch, it was originally split between the Heathcote and Spreydon road districts instead of being a locality of its own right. The name Sydenham originally referred only to "Sydenham House", a crockery and china shop in the area so named by its owner, Charles Prince, after the north west Kent town of Sydenham, which is now a London suburb within the London Borough of Lewisham. At a meeting regarding the formation of a borough council for the area, brought on by growth in the area, surveyor and future mayor Charles Allison advocated for the area to be named Sydenham, after the shop. The name was agreed upon, and Sydenham Borough Council came into existence in 1876. The first council and its mayor, George Booth, were elected in 1877. The population of the borough around this time was between five and six thousand, a number which doubled by the end of the 19th century, making it among the largest boroughs in New Zealand at the time. Sydenham quickly flourished as a suburb. By 1902, the population of the suburb had more than doubled since its formation, making it the largest borough in New Zealand. The shopping precinct located on Colombo Street was badly affected by the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch earthquakes with many commercial buildings demolished. Approximately 35 sites lost buildings. The Christchurch City Council produced a master plan in 2012 for redeveloping Sydenham after the earthquakes. The business district located south of Moorhouse Avenue was nicknamed "SoMo" by Lonely Planet in 2012. This marketing campaign was part of the Sydenham master plan.

Sydenham is located near the centre of Christchurch, and is separated from the central city by the South Island Main Trunk Railway and Moorhouse Avenue. State Highway 76 runs through the middle of Sydenham before connecting to the Christchurch Southern Motorway in the neighbouring suburb of Spreydon to the west. A number of suburbs are located to the south of Sydenham at the base of the Port Hills, including Somerfield, Beckenham and Cashmere. To the east, Sydenham is separated from neighbouring St Martins by the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River, and from Waltham by Waltham Road.

Sydenham comprises four statistical areas. Sydenham Central is almost entirely commercial and light industry. Sydenham West, North and South are primarily residential. +Individual statistical areasName Area(km2) Population Density(per km2) Households Median age Medianincome Sydenham Central 1.21 138 114 57 30.9 years $42,100 Sydenham West 0.49 1,320 2,694 645 42.7 years $28,400 Sydenham North 0.48 1,998 4,162 810 31.4 years $33,300 Sydenham South 0.55 2,787 5,067 1,128 34.1 years $30,900 New Zealand 37.4 years $31,800

The residential areas of Sydenham cover .

Sydenham has a number of heritage buildings registered by Heritage New Zealand, with some already lost or to be lost due to the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Woolstore in Durham Street is the only Category I heritage building. Coming from the south, the Sydenham Post Office and the Sydenham Heritage Church formed an entry into the strip shopping area along Colombo Street, but the church was controversially demolished shortly after the February earthquake. Nazareth House Chapel is located west of Sydenham Park and belongs to a retirement village. Blackheath Place are residential brick terrace houses that are rather uncommon in New Zealand. Three registered cottages are located in Shelley and Tennyson Streets.

The Colombo shopping centre is a shopping centre in Sydenham. It has 44 tenants, including the Academy Gold Cinema. In July 2020, Christchurch based retail chain Smiths City moved its flagship store to The Colombo centre.

There are many restaurants and takeaway food establishments on Colombo Street.

There is a vibrant art district in Sydenham with at least five art galleries located in Sydenham. These include Chambers Art Gallery, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Fiksate Studio & Gallery, Form Gallery, City Art Depot, and NZ Art Broker. Buildings feature street art works and many public art events have been held in Sydenham. As part of the Sydenham master plan, artwork was installed on Colombo street as a gateway into Sydenham.

The Christchurch South Police Station is located on Colombo Street in Beckenham. The previous police station for Sydenham was in Stanley Street, and was replaced by the Christchurch South station. It was opened in 2009 by the minister of police Judith Collins. The building cost $7.5 million to build.

Sydenham School, on the corner of Brougham and Colombo Streets, was first opened in 1872 and known as Colombo Road School. The land cost one hundred pounds to purchase and a further 862 pounds to build the school. By March 1873, there were almost 400 children enrolled. The school was renamed Sydenham school in 1880. At one stage it was the largest school in New Zealand. The school was closed in December 2000. In 2021, There were no primary or secondary schools within the suburb of Sydenham. Somerfield School takes students to the west of Colombo Street and south of Brougham Street. Waltham School takes students to the east of Colombo Street and south of Moorhouse Avenue. Addington School takes students to the west of Colombo Street and to the north of Somerfield school's zone. Beckenham School takes students to the east of Colombo Street and south of King and Huxley Streets.