The concept of transit oriented development (TOD) offers incredible promise: if you can tightly integrate transport and land use, focusing on density of development, a diversity of land uses, and high quality design of the public realm, you will improve patronage of public transport and generate huge place benefits for the community. While the theory is sound, realising it in practice is complex, requiring multi-party alignment, responsiveness to market factors, and a long-term view. Considering both New Zealand and international examples, Stantec’s Tom Young and Darren Davis will explore the key process and design characteristics of successful TOD projects, and the comparative shortcomings and unintended consequences of TOD projects that fail to connect the dots.

Tom Young (NZ Group Manager, Urban Planning & Environmental Services) is a professional planner and urban designer with a decade and a half of private and public sector experience. His experience in Canada and New Zealand includes master planned communities, strategic urban advisory, and numerous urban infill and transit oriented development projects. Since 2013 he has led the masterplanning of the Blatchford neighbourhood in Edmonton, Canada, a 200-ha brownfield redevelopment of a former council-owned airport site premised on transit oriented development principles.

Darren Davis (Lead Transport and Land Use Integration Specialist) works in the tricky nexus between land use, placemaking, and movement. He has 25 years’ experience in transport and land use as a lobbyist, planner, strategist, communicator and consultant. He has been involved in high level strategic policy advice, influencing regional and central government agencies and on-the-ground involvement in major transport infrastructure and land use projects.

Please contact knowledgehub@transport.govt.nz if you have any queries. Please RSVP by Monday close of Business.