ABOUT US

AIMS

The Urban Design Research Aotearoa brings together researchers in urban design discipline across the School of Architecture and Planning concerned with the urban environment and how, and what role urban design can play in improving the quality of New Zealand’s cities and towns, with a strong international outlook across the Asia Pacific region.  The Hub’s focus is to better understand the complexity of urban spaces and find innovative solutions to current and future urban design issues across a range of different spatial scales.  The Hub promotes research collaboration and cross-disciplinary approaches leading to innovative evidence-based understandings and urban design solutions for our future cities and urban spaces.

PURPOSE

The purpose of the UDRA is to:

• • Advancing urban design theory, principles and practices in New Zealand and internationally, and across the Asia Pacific region;
  • Increasing our understanding of the role urban design can play in the creation and developing sustainable, resilient and equitable urban form, including dealing with physical and social infrastructure, and the complex economic and social contexts urban design works within;
  • Expanding the understanding of the urban design factors and drivers that influence community creation at the different spatial scales;
  • Expanding the understanding of equity and the contribution urban design can make to disadvantaged communities;
  • A commitment to researching the impact of poor urban policy and practices on Maori and Pacfika communities and investigating urban design that builds on these traditions;
  • Expanding the understanding of the use of data to understand urban space relative to population health;
  • Investigating the role urban design can play with disruptive technologies and smart cities, considering the changes brought about by the real-digital continuum; and
  • Enhancing our understanding of urban place, the public realm and the incepting new spatialities for our increasingly trans-local people and communities

OBJECTIVES

• • Establishing a platform of research able to urban design research collaborations, multi-disciplinarily and inter-disciplinarily within the school, the wider University and with external organization, as discussed above;
  • Build external stakeholder relationships, including with the stakeholders listed above;
  • Build international research collaborations and networks, including with the stakeholders listed above; and
  • Align the Hub to attract high quality PhDs students in urban design and involve them in the Hub’s activities.