What is urban design?
Urban design is a design discipline that seeks to create desirable places for people to live, work and play. It involves the design and placement of buildings, roads, rail, open spaces, towns and cities. It focuses on the relationship between built form, land use and open space, natural features and human activity. Good urban design creates spaces that function well, have a distinctive identity and visual appeal.
Our commitment to quality urban design
We recognise that our activities impact the living environments of New Zealanders. As a signatory to the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol, we’re committed to planning for, developing and promoting quality urban design. Our challenge is to incorporate this commitment into all aspects of our business. For us this means ensuring:
- transport networks fit in sensitively with the landform and the built, natural and community environments through which they pass
- all systems of movement along and across the transport corridor are integrated into the design of projects with good connections and access to communities
- design contributes to the quality of public space and the road user experience.
Urban design and state highways
Urban design applies to all areas of the state highway network and is a multi-disciplinary approach to improve the quality of life for communities. Urban design, as it applies to state highway infrastructure in urban and rural settings, responds to the natural and built environment. It concerns the design of state highways in response to place and their contribution to the physical form, functioning and visual quality of the regions through which they pass and serve.
Find out more
See more detailed information on the application of urban design from our:
- Urban design policy
- Urban design principles: underpass guidance notes
- Urban design principles: noise wall guidance notes
- Urban design principles: road bridge guidance notes
- Urban design principles: pedestrian bridge guidance notes
- Urban and landscape design frameworks - highway and network operations guideline
- Environmental Design Framework (EDF)
- FAQ.
Learn how and where we expect project managers and teams to apply urban design in highway work from our Urban design professional services guide.
Check the application of urban design principles in the planning of a selection of our projects:
- Central motorway improvement - urban design framework
- Newmarket Viaduct urban design case study (I & R Phase)
- Greenlane landscape report (Boffa Miskell) - June 2008
- Newmarket Viaduct: landscape and urban design framework
- SH20 Manukau Harbour Crossing UDF
- Hobsonville urban design master plan
- Victoria Park Tunnel UDF (Aug 2009)
- Tauranga Eastern Link - urban design report (July 2009)
See our state highway register of urban design professionals.
Contact us for more information.
