Client
Services
Year
Location
Kāinga Ora
Strategy + Policy
2024
New Zealand
Ngahere Framework
Turning ngahere policy into practical guidance.
Kāinga Ora needed a national approach to retaining and growing urban ngahere across its developments and neighbourhoods.
The Urbanist developed a framework linking development sites to their wider catchment, with guidance informed by mātauranga Māori, Te Rautaki Māori and the Kāinga Ora Strategy.
The value
A shared basis for setting canopy targets and improving biodiversity, supported by clear visual guidance for project teams. The framework positions ngahere as critical infrastructure and connects near-term actions with intergenerational outcomes.
“The team at the Urbanist have developed a comprehensive approach to put our Ngahere policy into practice based on data analysis which acknowledges the complex needs of our projects and distils this into an easy-to-implement strategy.”
Jenny Chilcott, Ngahere Lead for Kāinga Ora
What we delivered
A review of existing projects and opportunities to improve practice.
A ngahere and canopy-targets tool applied to common housing typologies.
Guidance connecting biodiversity on development sites with the wider neighbourhood.
Short- and longer-term target proposals.
Workshops with Kāinga Ora teams and a visual implementation guide.