Integrating community aspirations with land use, infrastructure, transport, climate adaptation, and environmental limits to identify where growth should happen, where it should not, and what needs protecting.
District and regional spatial planning is about setting a clear strategic direction. Rather than regulating individual sites and activities, it provides the overarching framework that explains why certain areas are targeted for growth, why others are constrained, and how different parts of the region fit together. It is deliberately cross‑boundary, long‑term, and proactive. Spatial plans aim to reduce fragmented decision‑making and provide greater certainty for communities, developers, and infrastructure providers.
Spatial planning emphasises integration and foresight. It typically looks 30 years or more into the future and provides a shared vision for where growth should occur, where it should be limited, and what areas require protection. In doing so, it helps align land‑use decisions with public investment in infrastructure such as transport networks, water services, energy systems, and community facilities. This allows growth to be planned proactively rather than responding piecemeal as pressures arise.
Regional spatial planning recognises that cities and districts are interconnected, and that challenges such as housing supply, congestion, climate impacts, and water quality cannot be effectively addressed by individual councils acting alone. Instead, it brings together regional councils, territorial authorities, central government agencies, and mana whenua to agree on a coordinated approach for the whole region.
How we can help:
Spatial planning inputs
Boffa Miskell has a long history of assisting Councils with studies and analysis that inform the spatial planning process. This work involves core Boffa Miskell disciplines, including urban design, landscape architecture and landscape planning, ecology and biosecurity, planning and transport planning, cultural advisory, engagement, and climate change, assisted by our GIS specialist team.
Our cross-disciplinary expertise means that complex spatial planning inputs can be comprehensively addressed in an integrated and coordinated manner.
The spatial planning process
Boffa Miskell team works collaboratively to assist clients in understanding the wide range of relevant matters that need to be considered in the spatial planning process.
Along with our multi-disciplinary capabilities, Boffa Miskell consultants have experience integrating community input and co-design into the spatial planning processes through facilitation of workshops, engagement, and consultation.
In addition, we regularly work with other specialist teams in relation to natural hazards, infrastructure and demographics, with our engagement specialists assisting with the facilitation of community input. This interdisciplinary approach means that complex issues can be comprehensively addressed.
Implementing a spatial plan
It is likely the key implementation methods will be through regulatory plans (the new forms of regional and district plans) as well as through Long Term Plans and Regional Land Transport Plans. There will also be a range of other smaller-scale area and development plans, reserve management plans, and infrastructure plans.
Discrete projects can also be part of implementing a spatial plan, in response to specific identified opportunities or issues. These could include a streetscape upgrade in the town centre to accommodate a changing population, designating areas that will be set aside for development or protection, or undertaking a longer-term staged programme of infrastructure improvements.
The Boffa Miskell team has considerable experience in assisting with the design and development of these implementation tools, particularly in the development and change of district and regional plans, management plans and infrastructure planning projects.
