Urban design

Urban design is the practice of arranging buildings, access and green spaces to provide areas for living, working, and playing in our towns and villages. Good urban design can apply to whole towns or neighbourhoods within towns, as well as subdivisions and buildings on individual sites.

Tasman District Council is a signatory to the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol and has prepared an Urban Design Action Plan. It is also actively planning for the growth of towns across the District.

The Council has a number of urban design objectives and policies in the Tasman Resource Management Plan and has prepared several urban design guides:

• Chapter 6 - Urban Environment Effects.pdf (pdf 1.3 MB)
• Part II - Appendix 2 Urban Design Guide (15-12-2018).pdf (pdf 1.1 MB)
• Part II - Appendix 3 Coastal Tasman Area Design Guide.pdf (pdf 1.7 MB)
• Landscape Guide - St Arnaud Guidelines for Subdivisions, Buildings and Plantings.pdf (pdf 2.4 MB)

The Urban Design Action Plan is an ongoing commitment to ensure sound urban design principles are incorporated in Council capital works, urban development planning and private development projects.

Urban Design Action Plan 2008 (pdf 295 KB)

As a signatory to the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol, the Council has developed this Action Plan which focuses on:

• Strategy and Policy Initiatives;
• Decision Making;
• Delivery of Capital Works;
• Promotion and Awareness;
• Building Capacity.

The New Zealand Urban Design Protocol identifies seven essential design qualities that create quality urban design that the Council will be endeavouring to foster through its Urban Design Action Plan:

• Context – acknowledging the relationship between buildings, spaces and networks;
• Character – reflecting and enhancing the distinctive character, heritage and identity of our urban environments;
• Choice – ensuring diversity in lifestyle and transport options;
• Connections – ensuring accessibility;
• Creativity – allowing for expressions of creativity and encouraging innovative and imaginative solutions;
• Custodianship – creating sustainable design solutions that will endure;
• Collaboration – communicating and sharing knowledge across sectors, professions and with communities.

• Ministry for the Environment: Urban Design Stocktake of Resource Management Plans and Policies