After being classically trained in urbanism and architecture by global leaders in Miami and Rome, David spent the following decade using his expertise and skills across New Zealand in both the public and private sectors. In 2021, he joined the Woods’ team as a Senior Urban Designer. 

With Woods’ mission being to create better communities, what better way to do that than by becoming an accredited member of the New Urbanism movement? 

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the term, you’ll probably have seen elements of New Urbanism without recognising it. It’s a movement that has been popping up around the world, driven by increased demand for spaces that promote a clean and green way of living.
As New Zealand makes more efforts to build more sustainable and environmentally friendly housing, we can start to widen our imagination of what that will look like. 

New Urbanism can help to bring this vision to life. 

What is New Urbanism?

New Urbanism is a planning and development approach based on the principles of how cities and neighbourhoods have been built over the last several centuries.
Building residential housing and commercial spaces closely together, surrounded by walkable streets, and with accessibility to public spaces, New Urbanism brings a more human-focused aspect to living. 

The value of New Urbanism

The value New Urbanism brings is twofold – lifestyle and capital. 

New Urbanism results in a community-style living that promotes environmentally healthy habits and a more tranquil lifestyle. Residents can enjoy the flexibility of living in a walkable environment with plenty of transportation options, essentially saying goodbye to the emotionally taxing experiences of sitting in traffic. 

Having more of a lifestyle that encourages physical activity, New Urbanism also promises a space with reduced traffic accidents and pollution exposure, not to mention the time and money savings from reduced automobile dependency.  

Other broader benefits include increased sustainability, lowered climate impact by reducing tailpipe emissions and the preservation of the natural environment by living more densely and incorporating green networks.
It’s all about taking the scale and speed down to the human level and developing enjoyable and interesting places to live and work for all ages.

In addition to the benefits, it brings to its residents, New Urbanism also has the ability to continue offering its rewards to future generations. These developments have the potential to continue growing out, bringing in more residents, more commercial spaces, and more opportunities to scale. 

But beyond wealth, developers who decide to take on New Urbanism designs do so with an understanding that they aren’t just creating a place for people to live, work, and enjoy their life; they’re creating a legacy that will benefit each proceeding generation.

But what does the council think?

Probably the first thing on the New Urbanism ‘pro’ list is the council’s approval of them. These projects are a gold standard for councils because they offer everything suburban sprawl projects can’t. 

Suburban sprawl projects, whose housing density often results in habitat fragmentation and increased water and air pollution, also include significant infrastructure costs to maintain roading and telecommunications. 

On the flip side, New Urbanism promotes housing density using a more compact development pattern that requires less roading infrastructure per dwelling.

Having worked at Auckland Council, I know how supportive councils are in promoting and backing New Urbanist ideas and integrating these into development master plans. 

A global trend

The New Urbanism movement started in the ‘80s in Florida. Since then, projects globally have incorporated major elements in their designs. 

In many Australasia or North American cities, you’ll find large New Urbanist projects commanding the highest real estate values in town. Buyers justify costs not for the product but for the ability to live in communities that offer them a better lifestyle, with more access to amenities than they otherwise would have.

Aspects of New Urbanism have also started popping up around New Zealand over the last couple of decades, including parts of the Unitary Plan and Hobsonville Point. Woods has had the opportunity to work on projects like Pegasus Town in Christchurch, which incorporates elements of New Urbanism.

Woods and New Urbanism

The benefits of New Urbanism need to be supported by a broad spectrum of people who understand the vision and can work collaboratively with an assortment of disciplines. 

I have over ten years of experience designing large-scale, comprehensive, and mixed-use developments. As a Senior Urban Designer, I play a key role in creating the vision of a New Urbanist development and have the backing of Woods’ multidisciplinary approach to densification developments. 

Woods has the full spectrum of professional services needed to build a real community. We are home to professionals who know how to work within the existing codes and consenting process to get these types of projects out of the bureaucratic system quickly and intact.  

It’s all about knowing how to work within the system and knowing what you can bend, what you can’t and what you can break. These projects require a deeply collaborative approach across all the disciplines needed to make it happen. It takes real teamwork.

Myself and the team at Woods are eager to see more developments embrace New Urbanism. With our help, we can support these projects through our full-suite of engineering, surveying, design, and planning. Get in touch with us and ask us how to get started.