And just like that, it’s the end of another year!

Written by
The Urban Advisory
 | 
Friday
19
December 2025

We've had a truly remarkable year, and we're delighted to showcase some of our 2025 project highlights:

  • After years of development, we proudly debuted our findings from The New Zealand Housing Survey®. The report captures the voices of over 2500 New Zealanders to uncover the real, lived experiences of Kiwis navigating our housing system. The initial data set (including the data analysis and first report by the University of Auckland) is being used to bolster the decision-making evidence bases by councils, iwi, developers and landowners. 
  • Thanks to a Callaghan/MBIE innovation grant, work has begun on developing a prototype for our Housing Insights Dashboard, visualising  all our New Zealand Housing Survey data. This is a key step in the evolution of our Housing Insights Tool; a data-driven decision support platform that integrates proprietary datasets with external sources (e.g., census data, property market trends, transport accessibility, socio-economic indicators) and a powerful geospatial visualisation engine. 
  • We’ve continued the evolution of “TUA Tech” through our partnership with urban software development firm URBANLY. This collaboration has enabled us to build on the development of a globally innovative, agent-based strategic spatial model for use in Aotearoa.
  • We have doubled-down on our efforts to unlock mixed-use regeneration, housing and precinct delivery. We are actively redefining what successful urban regeneration looks like in Aotearoa. Beyond just bricks and mortar, we are championing a shift toward intergenerational stewardship - bringing together councils, iwi, hapū, landowners, and enlightened investors who are willing to play the long game. We are proud to be cultivating an ecosystem where the 'too hard' projects become deliverable realities. By connecting landowners with developers who prioritise place over pace, we are proving that the most vibrant, thriving communities are built on a foundation of shared values.
  • ‍We’ve delivered a portfolio of research, focusing on enhancing community resilience and housing stability in our rapidly changing urban environments. This mahi included the BRANZ MGH Research on unlocking multigenerational housing solutions; a strategic analysis for Haven Avondale; and research for the Central City Residents Group, which explored structural options to formalise representation and secure sustainable funding for improvements within Auckland’s City Centre.
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We invest our time and resources into what’s important to us.
Here’s a snapshot of TUA’s Impact for 2025:

  • Gifted the first tranche of data from the NZ Housing Survey data to the nation. These reports are available to read and download here. ‍
  • Presented at 20+ events and conferences across the motu, including the Economic Development NZ Annual Conference, International Conference on Urban Health, Fast Forward Lecture Series, Place Creative’s Night Mayors Series, The Urban Room’s Panel on Urban Regeneration, a BRANZ Research Webinar and many more.
  • Sponsored the 2025 CoHo Hui in Ōtautahi, to support New Zealanders opportunity to learn how collective, affordable and sustainable housing can work here in Aotearoa.
  • ‍Provided 200+ hours of free advice for community groups advocating for better urban development outcomes as a result of investment into transport and other social infrastructure.
  • Invested in emerging talent by sponsoring a young wāhine Māori to attend the Women Revolutionising Housing Hui in Motueka, fostering her practical skills and knowledge. Our recipient Talia said she “felt very privileged to be a part of this…highlights included the Riverside community kōrero, strategies of change, and learning about everybody's projects.”
  • Mentored University students throughout their tertiary studies.

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Next year we celebrate 10 years of TUA!
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  • Next year marks a decade of The Urban Advisory championing urban strategy and innovation in the country we love. We have spent 2025 refreshing our website and consolidating our experience into an elevated Knowledge Hub, which is available now to dive into and share! Throughout 2026, we’ll be releasing key insights and a database of our project experience in easily accessible, bite-sized pieces, to have our decade of mahi readily available to continue helping to guide and shape the future of urban development.
  • We are continuing to push the boundaries of urban tech in 2026. Our collaboration with URBANLY is entering a critical phase as we operationalise our agent-based strategic spatial model. By fusing strategic urban expertise with advanced software architecture, we are jointly doing the heavy lifting required to create a world-class decision-making tool. We are proud to be bridging the gap between data science and urban regeneration.

  • Diving into our goal of unlocking housing and better urban development outcomes for Aotearoa, 2026 will see us evolve beyond the traditional boundaries of consultancy. We are refining our business model to ensure our success is pinned to our clients' success. We are unashamedly focused on working with partners who possess the vision and leadership required to challenge the status quo. We are already seeing this approach take root with projects and partners in Auckland, Whangārei, Taupō, Wellington, Kapiti, Canterbury and Tasman. 2026 will be the year where we build great partnerships—and even better places.
  • Our commitment to delivering an expansive research agenda underpins and remains central to our work in 2026. We are excited to continue this journey, with a pipeline that includes building  The New Zealand Housing Survey®  data set and a new BRANZ research focused on unlocking development on Māori land alongside our long-time partner Matakohe. 
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If The New Zealand Housing Survey® insights can benefit your area or project or you need some help with bringing a very cool yet complex development project to life, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our directors and shape the future of housing, neighbourhoods, towns and cities in Aotearoa alongside us.

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Meri Kirihimete and Happy New Year!
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From our team to yours, we wish you a wonderful season of rest, whānau, good food and lots of time outdoors. Stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you in the new year!

~ Team TUA

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