People.
Place.
Purpose.
Your housing and urban development specialists.
About Us.
The Urban Advisory (TUA) is a strategic consultancy founded in Aotearoa, New Zealand over a decade ago to enable tangible outcomes in our neighbourhoods, towns and cities through an integrated service offering in research, strategy, design, and implementation advisory.
Our practice—what we call urban strategy—seamlessly moves your project from vision, planning and design through procurement to create places that are liveable, inclusive, and future-ready.
Our approach is grounded in academic rigour, powered by emerging technologies, and shaped by real-world experience.
If you have a housing, precinct or city wide project you need to unlock - give us a call.
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Urban Strategy
Urban Strategy is the crucial role of joining the dots of city-making. Urban strategists work across the scales of urbanism and bring people around the table to solve complex and challenging urban problems.
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Meet the Directors
Led by Urban Strategists Dr Natalie Allen and Greer O'Donnell, The Urban Advisory connects the dots between key players in the urban environment.
Our Vision
Our mission is to create healthier and more equitable homes, neighbourhoods, towns and cities.
Services.
Research
TUA is highly regarded as a NZ Research Organisation, using world-class technology platforms to capture data in order to understand our people and places.
Research
TUA is highly regarded as a NZ Research Organisation, using world-class technology platforms to capture data in order to understand our people and places.
Because people know their places best, we help you to capture their knowledge to give your decision making a strong and data-driven evidence base. Understanding the current and futures needs of people is vital in informing decision making when it comes to housing, neighbourhood, precinct, town and city delivery.
Our research capacities include:
- Literature and policy review
- Market research
- Market engagement
- Sentiment Surveys
- Outcomes, monitoring and evaluation
- Social Impact Assessment
- Urban Amenities Assessment
- Co-design and design thinking
- Community & stakeholder engagement (with local partners)
Research is a core element of Urban Strategy. It informs the project’s overall strategy, design and delivery, just as these components inform the research and information that is needed. The way we live and will live in the future is complex and ever-changing; asking the right questions in the research phase is critical in informing decision-making.
Strategy
People know their places best. TUA help clients capture their knowledge and analyse the data, to create a strong evidence base for their decision making.
Strategy
Strategy is all about developing an evidence-based plan of action. TUA helps to define your goals and create a data-informed, strategic action plan to inform your decision making.
TUA’s strategies are comprehensive and delivery-focused. We use the three other underpinning elements of Urban Strategy - research, design and delivery - to inform our strategies. The goal of a TUA Strategy is to create a tangible, actionable plan; identifying all of the personnel and components needed to make your goal a reality.
TUA is experienced in developing strategies in the following areas:
- Housing strategy
- Precinct strategy
- Place strategy
- Spatial strategy
- Economic strategy
- Sustainable growth strategies
- Future Development strategies
- Kāinga and whare strategies
Our process is bespoke; tailored to your specific needs and outcomes. We use internal data that is being continuously updated, and also use the latest national and international evidence to inform our strategies.
Design
Design, in an Urban Strategy context, has two main functions: to aid in the formation and implementation of the strategy, as well as visually articulating the vision for a place.
Design
Design, in an Urban Strategy context, has two main functions: to aid in the formation and implementation of the strategy, as well as visually articulating the vision for a place.
Strategy and design are two sides to the same coin; strategy will influence the design, just as the design will influence the strategy. TUA has a strong network of design specialists who are trained in Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning, Structural Engineering and more.
We bring in the right design experts needed to execute a project, allowing their specific skills and experience to not only inform the strategy and implementation from a design perspective, but also visually communicate the clients vision. This helps people see what’s possible, and how it can be done.
TUA’s design capacities include:
- Precinct Design & Planning
- Spatial and masterplanning
- Town Centre Development
- Community centred design advice
- Urban Design Review
- Private plan changes | Section 32 Report
Baked into the practice of Urban Strategy, design works to visually deliver on the practicalities of developing and implementing a strategy, while also taking people on the journey to really show what’s possible.
Delivery
TUA is experienced in deal origination and initiation; a key point of difference in how TUA operates as a consultancy. With world-leading experts in our network, TUA gets projects off the paper and into existence.
Delivery
TUA is experienced in deal origination and initiation; a key point of difference in how TUA operates as a consultancy.
Not only does TUA do the research, create the strategy and design the project, we have world-leading experts in our network to get it off the paper and delivered into existence.
TUA knows the nuts and bolts of how to structure the foundation of a project; then bringing the correct parties together to enable it to get it off the ground. An important part of this process is the ‘deal-making’; TUA is exceptional in putting a project together in a way that can attract the right capital and/or funding required to deliver the project.
Core elements of our delivery experience and services include:
- Business case development
- Project brief development
- Deal origination & partnerships
- Procurement & commercial advice
- Programme & project governance
- Support for Māori-led development planning
- Development feasibility & property advisory (in partnership)
This delivery component of TUA’s services is a core element of what sets TUA apart as a consultancy. After creating the strategy and informing the decision making, we stay at the table through the duration of the project delivery, to make sure the seeds are turning into actual trees.
TUA Impact.
The Urban Advisory continuously puts their money where their mouth is; investing back into the urban environment sector via research, education, co-funding projects and regularly speaking at industry events and conferences across Aotearoa and Australia.
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We worked with TUA to develop our approach and programme plan for a housing project and land $2.5m of funding to help us deliver it well. What made working with TUA a good fit was our strong value alignment, but they were also a good personality fit for our team.
Putting together an iwi housing strategy for the first time required people with expertise and knowledge. TUA were amazing to work with, professional, engaging, helpful and have a lot of expertise.
We worked with TUA to investigate the delivery of new housing models, in particular co-housing and a lot of useful knowledge was built up amongst our team. The team at TUA had a good mix of skills, were great facilitators, were collaborative, and their reports were well-presented and detailed.
TUA have been professional and accommodating throughout and your work has been invaluable in getting the plan change to the point it is today. We have enjoyed working alongside you all.
Our relationship with TUA seeks to redefine what working in a true partnership means. Whilst the tangible outcomes will produce our Housing Strategy, being the crucial first step to achieving our housing aspirations, the intangible benefits of this relationship will enable both entities to increase their capacity and matauranga.
