The businesses and people integral to the future of Christchurch are confident about the economic recovery of the country's second largest city.

That's according to Invest Christchurch which has released the findings of surveys on the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan and the wider region's future.

They show that local businesspeople and investors are more confident than the wider population about Christchurch's prospects with many planning to stay in the area, more wanting to open businesses in the central city and the younger population being committed to the region.

That should please Invest Christchurch - the investment facilitation arm of the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU) - which commissioned the surveys to get information to reassure potential investors about aggregated investment intentions for Christchurch as well as the likely stability of the city's workforce and consumer base.

"Investors - whether existing Christchurch landowners, other New Zealand investors, businesses and developers, or international investors - can have confidence that the people who know Christchurch best are bullish about its future, are united behind the central city blueprint and plan to remain in the region to be part of that exciting future," Sheila McBreen-Kerr, manager of Invest Christchurch, said

"Our businesses, young people and wider community plan to stay, they are united behind the blueprint plan, and they overwhelmingly think it is a good time to invest in Christchurch," she said.

The surveys claim:

- 74% of Christchurch businesspeople, 56% of Christchurch residents and 52% of New Zealanders support the city plan.

- 7% of Christchurch businesspeople, 13% of Christchurch residents and 17% of New Zealanders oppose it.

- 78% of Christchurch businesspeople and 61% of Christchurch residents believe things in Christchurch are heading in the right direction, higher than the benchmark of 51% of New Zealanders who think things in New Zealand are heading in the right direction.

- 73% of Christchurch businesspeople, 61% of Christchurch residents and 50% of New Zealanders believe it is a good time to invest in the city.

- Among people under 30, 77% of Christchurch residents plan to continue living in the region over the next few years, slightly above the national benchmark of 74%.

Invest Christchurch also said more than 20% of Christchurch businesspeople want to locate their businesses in the new Central Business District - higher than the estimated 17% of Christchurch businesses that were in the CBD before the earthquake. In the professional, scientific and technical services sector, 44% want to locate in the new CBD.

The surveys were conducted between July 31 and August 6 and have margins of error between 3.6-4.9 per cent.

- © Fairfax NZ News