We solve urban challenges by:

Embracing complexity; offering a multi-disciplinary and end-to-end integrated approach that considers the spatial and planning implications early.
Increasing the certainty that your project outcomes can be achieved by negotiating the necessary commitments from stakeholders.
Balancing wellbeing outcomes and impact goals with the commercial viability and deliverability of your project.
Making information accessible and inclusive; we use creative visuals to interpret and present complex information and to communicate clearly and concisely.

We take action inline with our values

These principles guide us to deliver fresh thinking and evidence-based solutions.

Thoughtfulness

We genuinely care, think deeply and change tack as required.

Bravery

We work together in new ways, we think and do differently and we work out ways to makethings happen, even when it's hard.

Reciprocity

We build enduring relationships and take a tuakana-teina approach - always learning andcontinuously sharing.

Our Process

Supporting the outcomes you seek.

‍We support your aspirations - this is the essence of our process. Joining you on your journey is our mindset at the outset, building on your strengths, sharing our knowledge and tools, learning from you, becoming your trusted advisors and finding solutions together.

Meet the Team

As a multidisciplinary team with skills as diverse as our services, we are problem solvers who thrive on the challenge of helping you to deliver your projects.
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We have expertise in engagement, project planning, systems thinking and co-design, research, anthropology, architecture, urban design, planning, economics and commercial advisory.

Dr Natalie Allen

Director

Dr Natalie Allen

Natalie works with our clients to make the seemingly complex simple when it comes to designing and delivering our built environment. She specialises in designing neighbourhoods that enhance wellbeing and is passionate about supporting our clients to innovate when it comes to delivering quality, resilient, and people-centric developments. Natalie has a background in architecture, urban/spatial design, and urban governance and extensive research experience across a range of critical urban topics: integrated urban planning and community visioning, urban growth and increasing density, and housing preferences and demand. She maintains wide-ranging industry networks in both the public and private sectors and brings a creative, long-term strategic perspective to all our work.

Turangawaewae: Natalie grew up in Tāmaki Makarau and spent alternating weekends growing up visiting her tīpuna in Paihia, Te Tai Tokerau and Ngāmotu, Taranaki. She also spent formative time living in Costa Rica, Uganda, and Cheng du.

Qualifications and Affiliations
‍PhD in Urban Design
MArch (Master of Architecture, first class honours)
BArch (Bachelor of Architecture, first class honours)
BAS (Bachelor of Architectural Studies)

Urban Auckland
Architecture + Women

Areas of Expertise
‍Urban Research
Urban Regeneration
Housing Strategy
Housing Needs Assessments
Community + Stakeholder Engagement

Thought Leadership
‍Natalie regularly speaks at conferences, delivers webinars, is a panel moderator and writes about housing issues and delivering citizen-centric neighbourhoods.

- 5th Annual Affordable Housing Development and Investment Summit 2021 | Full-day workshop lead | Tools and techniques to diversify the housing system

- Corenet Symposium: Resilience the Next Wave 2021 | Presenter | Resilience through urban design

- CBRE Residential Advantage Summit 2021 | Keynote | Scanning the horizon of changing housing trends

- RIBA Global Knowledge Exchange (Virtual) 2021 | Keynote | The Future of cities – Revitalising/reimagining cities post-CovidDesign Experience Series Queenstown, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland 2021 | Keynote | Shaping citizen-centric communities.

- NZILA Conference 2021 | Presenter + Panellist | Neighbourhoods as Cohesive Landscapes

- ADNZ Medium to High Density Housing Summit (Virtual) 2021 | Presenter | Diverse housing solutions for our diverse people.

- Hamilton City Councilor Briefing 2020 | Keynote | Housing for Wellbeing

- MfE Seminar 2020 | Keynote | Housing for Wellbeing - Options for everyone

- NZIA Seminar 2020 | Keynote | The Architecture of Equity: Housing for Wellbeing

- ADNZ National Conference 2020 | Presenter | Housing for Wellbeing and the Role of the Neighbourhood

- Property Council Residential Development Summit 2019 | Panel Chair | Disrupting the Property Industry

- International Study Tour 2018 and 2019 – Led government officials to Europe, the U.K and U.S to explore sustainable regeneration and community-led development solutions.

- Housing New Zealand away day 2019 | Keynote | Who are we building for?

- Spatial Survey Conference 2019 | Presenter | Creating Integrated Neighbourhoods and building community, from the start.

- Build to Rent Forum 2019 | Presenter | How BTR projects can help drive urban regeneration and renewal in our cities

- ATEED away day 2019 | Keynote | Thinking spatially about economic development

- AAA Awards 2019 | Keynote | Visionary Architecture? Beyond housing, towards integrated neighbourhoods

- UNITEC Scala Seminar Series 2019 | Keynote | Urban Innovation and Strategic City Making

Greer O’Donnell

Director

Greer O'Donnell

Greer brings a unique perspective to the industry, having legal and anthropological training. Her expertise is at the front end of projects; bringing together iwi partners and stakeholders, to deeply understand the context, test assumptions and identify opportunities. Her skills in building relationships that form the basis of partnership, and setting projects up for success, have been applied to urban development and regeneration programmes, as well as housing and social infrastructure projects in the civic, arts and culture, parks, sport and recreation sectors. Greer’s strength is in co-designing a pathway to implementation, and working across sectors to turn strategy into delivery. Greer values innovation and creativity, and is passionate about changing the way we think about city-making, and holding space for mana whenua to guide us on how to restore Aotearoa’s ecological and cultural richness.

Turangawaewae:
Greer was brought up on a hill country farm in Whanganui, has strong connections to Ōtautahi where she spent over a decade living and working, and now lives in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Qualifications and Affiliations
IAP2 Public Participation
Prince 2 - Project Management
Thomas Kilmann - Mediation and Resolving Conflict
Institute of Directors - Management, Finance and Strategy

LLB/BA (Political Science, Anthropology)

Founder & Chair - Society for Housing Innovation 2018-2022
Westpac Women of Influence Finalist 2019 - Business Enterprise

Areas of Expertise
Urban Development
Urban Regeneration
Community Housing
Affordable Housing
Project feasibility

Thought Leadership
- Recreation Conference 2022 | Delivering Wellbeing through Community recreation
- Auckland central regeneration Think Tank 2021-22 | Participant | Thinking a hundred years into the future
- Retirement Commission Older Persons Forum | Presenter | Barriers to community-centric affordable housing
- Better Renting through New Housing Models - Greater Auckland 2021 | Co-Author | Cooperative ownership and Build-to rent
- How we Live - Creating housing that puts people and the planet first 2021| Co-Author | A systems change view of housing
- A Cooperative Housing Pathway 2020-21 | Advisor and Reviewer | Open sourced development pathway by SCOOPNZCoHoHui 2021 | Organiser | Collective Housing Conference
- Housing Innovation Society 2021 | Advocacy | policy/legislative settings that are impeding the development of innovative and affordable housing options in New Zealand
- 5th Annual Affordable Housing Development and Investment Summit 2021 | Full-day workshop lead | Tools and techniques to diversify the housing system
- Urban Futures Conference 2020 | Presenter| How to plan for more people-centric cities
- Creative Conversations Palmerston North City Council 2020 | The future of medium density housing and regeneration
- GLO Government Land Organisations Australia and New Zealand (Presenter, 2019) – Urban Innovations; rethinking how we build our cities
- International Study Tour 2018 and 2019 – Planned and led a group of government officials to Europe, the U.K and U.S to explore sustainable regeneration and community-led development solutions
- Developing New Zealand (Panel Moderator and Round Table Chair, 2019) – Innovations in the planning industry Sustainable and affordable housing solutions for greater liveability and wellbeing
- Spatial Survey Conference (Presenter, 2018) – Creating Integrated Neighbourhoods and building community, from the start

Jaime Macfarlane

Principal Urban Strategist
Landscape Architect

Jaime Macfarlane

Jaime brings her all-round problem solver and design mediator skills to solving complex situations for clients. She is a trained Landscape Architect and gained a wide-range of skills from her experience working internationally in the profession and lecturing at Wellington’s Victoria University. She is not only excellent at moving between spatial scales; masterplan to detailed design, maintenance plans to street profiles but also communicating her solutions into visually understandable packages.

‍Turangawaewae: Born and raised in Whakatū / Nelson, Jaime has recently returned to Aotearoa after living and working abroad in NYC, London, Amsterdam and Oslo. She also has ties to the Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington region after working there for a number of years.

‍Qualifications and Affiliations
‍BArch (Bachelor of Architecture)Masters of Landscape ArchitectureLevel One Hakomi Fundamental Relationship Skills

‍Areas of Expertise
‍Landscape architecture
Masterplanning
Communication of complex ideas in simple and visual packages
Stakeholder engagement and workshop or wānanga facilitation

Stephanie Cavenett

Operations Manager

Stephanie Cavenett

Steph brings organisational experience across a variety of roles, with a background in Operations Management and Graphic Design. Responsible for day to day operations, Steph oversees the allocation of workflow, communicating expectations from directors to staff, liaising with clients to achieve their deadlines and supporting the TUA team and office operations in Auckland. Steph also assists with staff recruitment, manages the corporate side of the business, oversees the growth strategy, and assists with business development.
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‍Turangawaewae: Born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau, Steph has spent the past several years living and working overseas. Returning home at the start of 2023, Steph is very happy to call Auckland home once more.
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‍Qualifications and Affiliations
‍Bachelor of Art & Design
CIPD Associate Diploma in HR: People Management
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‍Areas of Expertise
‍Office and team management
Director Support
Coordination and administration

Meredith Dale

Senior Urban Designer + Strategist

Meredith Dale

Meredith is an Urban Designer and Urban Strategist with experience in civil engineering and urban design in the public and private sector in Aotearoa. She is a design thinker and systems thinker, skilled at working with complexity, across scales and collaborating with diverse stakeholders to develop strategies for change. Meredith has a unique multi-disciplinary perspective that is supported by a balance of skills from spatial and visual design to engagement, qualitative and quantitative research. As tangata tiriti, Meredith values meaningful partnership, integrating a bicultural approach to her work, to support iwi and hapū entities to realise their development aspirations.

Turangawaewae:
‍Born in Asia, and grew up in Kirikiriroa / Hamilton (rohe of Waikato Tainui), Meredith now lives in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.

Qualifications and Affiliations
‍Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), Civil & Environmental Engineering, (First Class)
Master of Urban Planning (Prof) and Urban Design, (First Class)
Urban Design Forum
New Zealand Green Building Council, Future Thinkers

Areas of Expertise
‍Urban Design
Urban Regeneration
Housing Strategy
Monitoring + Evaluation
Community + Stakeholder Engagement

Thought Leadership
‍Future Thinker of the Year 2021, New Zealand Green Building Council
International Leadership Visitor Programme, Sustainable Housing and Smart Cities (2021)
Emerging Planners Network - Beyond the RMA, (Panelist, 2021)

Emma McInnes

Visualizer + Urban Designer

Emma McInnes

Emma is primarily an Urban Designer with a background in Communications, Graphic Design Advertising and Campaigning. She has particular interests in transport planning (walking and cycling), housing, sustainability and tactical urbanism. She has been a strong advocate on Auckland issues in the area of climate change, sustainability and transport, focusing on the challenges for women and other marginalised groups. She is particularly concerned with equitable planning and design of our towns and cities. She is an author who has published articles with Greater Auckland, the Herald and The Spinoff.

‍Turangawaewae Emma was born in Marua/Whananāki in Whangārei. She lived there until coming to Tāmaki Makaurau to study. She now lives in Auckland’s Isthmus with her whanau.

‍Qualifications and Affiliations
‍Master of Urban Planning and Urban Design (ongoing) | University of Auckland
Bachelor of Design (Honours) | Auckland University of Technology
Bachelor of Communications | Auckland University of Technology
Chair of Women in Urbanism Aotearoa
Auckland Council Universal Design Forum Member
Uber Australasia Women’s Safety Forum MemberAuckland Women’s Issues Group: YWCA, Member
Urban Design Forum Member

‍Areas of Expertise
‍Transport / Active Mode Planning
Tactical Urbanism
Masterplanning
Accessible and Inclusive Design
Graphic Design support

Perwez Abdullah

Property and Development Strategist

Perwez Abdullah

Perwez has over 10 years experience in property covering everything from property management to property development analysis in both the public and private sector. His strength lies in his ability to apply an analytical mindset and his creativity to complex problems. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, he brings with him his passion for people-centered cities and neighborhoods, spatial redress and restitution and financial markets. His diverse working background and lessons learnt working in South Africa and Aotearoa New Zealand allows him to bring a unique perspective to The Urban Advisory clients. Perwez loves the challenge of working within tight parameters and interesting briefs as it stimulates his creative energy and drive!
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Turangawaewae:
Perwez was born and grew up in Kēpa Tāone / Cape Town, Āwherika ki te Tonga / South Africa and moved to Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland in 2019.

Qualifications and Affiliations
‍Master of Science, Project Management
Bachelor of Science (Hons), Property Studies
Fundamentals of Analysing Real Estate Investments
The Real Estate Financial Modelling Bootcamp

Areas of Expertise
‍Financial modeling & analysis
De-risking complex projects
Project management
Development feasibility studies
Strategic property analysis
Property research and advisory

Rory Overton

Visualizer + Urban Designer

Rory Overton

Rory has recently completed studies in Architecture and Urban Design and has been a long-term supporter of TUA by developing visual content and workflows. He is interested in how architectural solutions integrate intimately within their context by considering connections to urban scales with strategic thinking. As an interdisciplinary designer who embraces the complexity of problem-solving, Rory is passionate about honest, respectful, and well-considered design. These characteristics form Rory's design philosophy of incorporating sustainability, resilience, and temporality as foundations for any solution. Rory believes that being inclusive, committed and perceptive are essential to creating meaningful change in our urban environment.

Turangawaewae
‍Born in Whangārei, grew up across Tāmaki Makarau and lives in Central Auckland.
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Qualifications
‍BAS - Bachelor of Architectural Studies
MArch(Prof)UrbDes - Master of Architecture & Urban Design (Ongoing, TBC Mid-2022)

Areas of Expertise
‍Architectural Design
Urban Design
Visualisation/Graphic Design
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Key Collaborators

The Urban Advisory has a strong network of collaborators who add depth to the work that we do. This includes in te ao Māori, to engage Māori appropriately throughout the life of a project.