Tactical urbanism involves low-cost, temporary interventions to test ideas and catalyze long-term change by putting people at the center of placemaking. GHD Digital supports tactical urbanism projects through community engagement, design thinking, and technical expertise to deliver improvements that are safe, beneficial, and informed by data collection and evaluation. They work with clients throughout the entire tactical urbanism process from planning and funding applications to implementation, monitoring, and integrating lessons into larger projects.
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Tactical Urbanism
A people-led approach to
place-making using short-
term, low-cost, scaleable,
but safe interventions,
intended to catalyse long-
term change.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency is currently funding
tactical urbanism projects at
90%, through its Innovating
Streets for People
programme.
Te Ara Light Path, Auckland
Guerilla Playspaces Installation, Silo Park, Auckland
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Why tactical urbanism matters to us
At GHD Digital, we believe in putting people at the centre of everything we do, finding better ways of
doing things and constantly learning from experience.
These are also the core principles of tactical urbanism, engaging in genuine community co-design to
identify new possibilities for shaping places and connecting people, and then testing our assumptions and
building an evidence base through trials before investing in permanent transformations.
While the application of design thinking and human centered design is reasonably new in the land use
and transport planning space, it has been our approach from day one. We are confident in bringing
together diverse views and specialisations to find new approaches, before engaging experienced teams to
deliver changes that can be monitored through robust but easy to implement metrics to find out if, and
how, a tactical approach needs to change to deliver the best benefits for your investment.
This approach not only builds communities’ confidence and trust, but also significantly reduces
project risks and long-term value for money.
Our thirst for learning, combined with a proud 90+ year history of deep technical expertise and a global
team of 10,000 people across 14 countries makes us a powerful ally when tacking this new way of
delivering infrastructure.
GHD Digital. Transform for good.
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Waka Kotahi NZTA Recommended Supplier:
Community activation
Travel planning
Design-led thinking
Workshop Facilitation
Safety and accessibility audits
Transport & Engineering design
Temporary traffic management
Urban Design
Partnerships
Place-making
Project management
Monitoring and evaluation
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How we work together
Consider us an extension of your team.
Tactical urbanism requires intimate local knowledge – knowledge that only you and your people can
provide – but it also requires specialist skills, experience, and resources that may need to come from
outside.
Whether you just need someone to help you navigate the funding application process, or whether you are
looking for an end-to-end solution, we are able to slot right in with your team and work seamlessly to
deliver your projects rapidly but to a high standard.
We can call on GHD experts from around the globe to advise on specialist subjects, or identify talented
local designers to work within their own community to ensure a fit for purpose team. Collaboration is our
middle name!
We also have a range of technologies and access to data to measure and understand the impact of your
interventions, helping you deliver infrastructure valued by the people who use it.
Finally, if you are planning to make use of tactical urbanism more frequently, we are happy to help you
build capability in this area through knowledge transfer and training.
Global Reach, Local Focus
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With you for the whole journey
Pre Planning + Funding
We have first hand
experience in applying
for funding from the
90% co-funded
Innovating Streets for
People programme, and
can help you identify the
best sites for tactical
urbanism projects.
Initiation
Tactical urbanism
requires an inter-
disciplinary project team
alongside traditional
transport engineers. We
ensure you get the right
mix of skills and have
everybody aligned on
the best way forward.
Discovery
Putting people at the
centre of place-making
requires a deep
understanding of their
drivers and behaviours.
We help you get the
right mix of qualitative
and quantitative data to
inform your project.
Co-design
A well-run co-design
process not only results
in innovative new
concepts, but brings
together different
interest groups and
helps them find a way
forward that balances
their various interests.
Implementation
Tactical urbanism has to
be delivered quickly and
at low cost, all without
compromising safety or
quality. Our networks of
contractors and practical
experience of conditions
across the country
means we can deliver.
Monitoring
The data from tactical
urbanism projects is not
only to measure benefit
realization, but also to
inform the case for more
permanent changes. We
have sophisticated tools
to help you build a
robust evidence base.
Integration
Carrying the momentum
from tactical urbanism
projects forward to
larger projects requires
careful planning and
coordination. Our
extensive experience in
this space is our key to
success.
Documenting
Tactical urbanism
depends strongly on local
context, but the lessons
learned can often be used
again in other projects.
We support the growing
community of practice
through good
documentation.
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Intersection Repair
As part of a series of Co-Design workshops delivered
by GHD to improve the safety and user friendliness of
two key intersections for connectivity in the
Palmerston North city centre, the team conducted
interviews and worked with diverse user groups. This
delivered new insights to issues and risks, baseline
data for benefits realisation, and a set of potential
solutions to address the issues identified.
Human Factors
To deliver a new rail service, the Public Transport
Authority of Western Australia commissioned GHD to
carry out a comprehensive Human Factors
assessment of the customer journey to develop
engineering design specifications, instrumentation
design, and operating procedures to minimise risks
and improve the value for money of planned
interventions.
Video Analytics
Before embarking on track renewal works, Yarra
Trams commissioned GHD to carry out a detailed
analysis of walking, cycling, tram, and vehicle
movements to understand how this might impact
customer experience and safety. Using aerial video
capture and video analytics, we were able to identify
desire lines and quantify levels of service to inform
interventions to minimise the impact on people
moving through and around project sites.
Case Studies - Discover
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Smart Seeds
Powered by GHD, with partners, Smart Seeds is a
design-led innovation programme where emerging
leaders have the opportunity to tackle our
communities’ most complex urban challenges. Over
the last 5 years’, this programme has supported the
development of hundreds of young professionals from
over 50 organisations nationwide and has identified
innovative solutions such as AT Local in Auckland.
Road Safety Design Sprint
During a five-day design sprint, facilitated by one of
our team, road safety experts and stakeholders
followed a design-thinking approach to identify and
prototyped solutions to improve the safety of road
workers. Collaboratively, they identified a number of
temporary and low-cost interventions that included
changes to site layouts and work practices.
Vision Zero Roundabout
Panuku had a vision for a new type of roundabout,
where safety was paramount and the new
infrastructure contributed to a sense of place. GHD’s
urban design and transport teams worked
collaboratively, each bringing their areas of expertise,
to prepare a concept design that met the ambitious
safety outcomes while creating an attractive space.
Case Studies - Design
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Auckland Lightpath
NZTA engaged GHD to lead the design and
construction contract management for this iconic
piece of infrastructure. A retrofit to the Nelson St. off-
ramp, this was developed to a short timeframe and in
close collaboration with different stakeholder groups,
including mana whenua, business groups, and bike
Auckland using cutting edge 3D structural and design
tools.
Activating Playspaces
Our team has prior experience in activating spaces
ahead of planned developments, including the
installation of safe and engaging playspaces in
Auckland's Silo Park, interactive street furniture in
Waitematā Plaza, and a pop-up playground in
the Ōtara town centre. The aim, to attract people into
a space and understand how it might be used more
effectively.
Community Travel Plans
To accommodate the growing roll of Fruitvale Rd
Primary, GHD delivered holistic masterplan, including
a dedicated pedestrian accessway separated from
vehicle traffic. This included geotechnical challenges
of crossing an existing stream and installation of a
treatment plant to allow for safe discharge. The
reconfiguration also provided safe construction
access for a new learning block as part of future
masterplan stages.
Case Studies - Deliver
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Luke Krieg
Transport Innovation
Bruce Conaghan
Road Safety
Aaron Rodriguez
Transport and Planning
Lauren White
Urban Design
Jane Hancock
Design Thinking
Key People
During his time at Waka Kotahi NZ
Transport Agency, Luke discovered a
passion for using human-centred design to
shape our transport future. He is keen to
continue his contribution in this space
through Innovating Streets for People
projects with councils and communities;
bringing to bear his considerable
experience in facilitating groups to harness
their diversity of thought and build towards
a common goal.
Bruce is a senior technical leader with
over 30 years’ extensive and diverse local
authority experience in road safety and
traffic and transport engineering planning,
operations and management; and
community safety. His experience and
understanding of transport safety, safe
systems, and road user behaviour and
interaction, combined with extensive
technical knowledge will be invaluable to
designing and delivering outcomes that
are practical, safe and provide
accessibility for all users.
Aaron is a Senior Advisor within GHD’s
Digital Strategy and Transformation
Practice in the Asia Pacific region, with a
focus on Transport and Urban
Development. His professional experience
has involved working closely with public
and private sector clients, including
Transport Authorities to deliver strategic
transport planning and advisory services,
on how technology and digital initiatives
can help deliver better network wide
transport and urban solutions and
customer outcomes.
Lauren applies a holistic view to her work
as an urban designer, viewing buildings,
places and spaces not as isolated
elements but as part of a whole. While her
career spans over 20 years, for the past
14 years in New Zealand, she has led
teams on public and private sector
projects that range from architectural
design, housing and masterplanning to
large growth planning initiatives. As well as
a significant body of work in New Zealand,
Lauren brings international experience
from projects from around the world.
Jane is passionate about innovation and
doing things smarter. Since participating in
the Smart Seeds innovation programme in
2018, she has sought out opportunities to
tackle projects through co-design. Coupled
with a proven track record in project and
programme delivery, having worked as an
engineer and project manager for nearly a
decade, Jane can successfully implement
a wide range of different projects.
Jane also has experience in workshop
facilitation having co-facilitated complex
design sprint workshops as part of the
Let’s Get Wellington Moving programme.
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“The best way to predict the
future, is to create it.”
-Alan Kay
