What does your role as an Urban Regeneration Planner with the Christchurch City Council entail?
My role involves working at a range of scales (from city-wide research to site-specific initiatives) to support regenerating urban areas to reach their potential.
I spend about half my time working in the Enliven Places Programme delivering place-making projects to transform underutilised sites into vibrant and welcoming public spaces including lighting projects and vacant sites activation. The other half of my time supports other central city and suburban regeneration initiatives including a neighbourhood plan, assessing the performance of Ōtautahi's commercial centres and delivering on suburban centre master plans.
What excites you most about this position?
The various hats a planner wears - from project scoping, designing, managing and implementation to relationship building and beyond, you get to dip your fingers in a variety of different areas. It makes things ever evolving and exciting!
The depth and breadth of the role - some projects are high level and implemented over a decade and beyond, while some are smaller scale and implemented within a few months. It's rewarding to see tangible outcomes come from your mahi in a short period like new but also supporting projects that come to fruition over the long term.
Is urban planning and transport something you have always been interested in?
Kind of, yes. My favourite subject at high school was geography, I love understanding how the world works and why it doesn't. How our urban form influences all facets of society and our hauora is fascinating to me.
I'm also a huge advocate for the humble bicycle and bus, riding both to this day. It's helped shape my worldview by seeing the incredible positive benefits active transport has on an individual, collective, and environmental scale.
How did your Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Geography help to prepare you for your chosen career path?
Majoring in Geography helped me comprehend the context of the world we live in and the various challenges we face. I channelled this knowledge towards urban planning, seeing it as a way to create a healthier, liveable and thriving society for all people and the environment. I didn't actually know what my specific job title would be until I applied for my role in third year! A special shout out to the amazing staff in the Geography Department who further sparked my passion in this field with their incredible expertise, enthusiasm and all-around excellence.
Any fond memories of your time at UC?
Something I loved about UC were the opportunities provided for people to discover something new, meet someone new and hone in on what you love. Taking the Uni-Cycle cycleway every morning through Hagley Park, Mona Vale and Riccarton Bush is hard to beat!
What advice would you give to a new student thinking of studying at UC?
Starting university can be a real shock to the system if you're coming straight from high school, I'd recommend not being too hard on yourself if things get overwhelming. Being open to new experiences is a great place to start - take advantage of your elective courses by trying something that sounds interesting and don't skip out on the free lunches!
