2025, Pedersen Zari, M., MacKinnon, M., Theis, J., van Heezik, Y., Woolley, C. URBIO Conference. 31 July to 2 August. Perth, Australia.
ABSTRACT
Urban intensification in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly through medium-density housing, presents both critical challenges and significant opportunities for embedding biodiversity more effectively into the built environment. This presentation shares design-led findings from Aotearoa BiodiverCity, a research stream within the People, Cities & Nature programme, which investigates how urban development can contribute to ecological regeneration across multiple scales.
One focus of the research is the ongoing development of the NZBF Design for Biodiversity Guide, which supports architects, urban designers, planners, developers, and other built environment professionals in integrating biodiversity-positive strategies into housing at site, neighbourhood, and city scales. While part of the broader New Zealand Biodiversity Factor (NZBF) toolbox, a suite of tools designed to assess and support biodiversity-positive built environments, the Design for Biodiversity Guide takes a distinctive approach by emphasising the creative and spatial potentials of design as a potential driver of biodiversity outcomes.
Drawing on research-through-design, case study analysis, and co-development with practitioners and ecologists, the guide proposes practical, place-based processes and strategies for embedding habitat and multispecies relationships into the urban fabric; both surrounding and integrated within buildings and infrastructure.
We illustrate how design-led approaches can complement regulatory and ecological assessment frameworks and present a selection of categorised built environment interventions that support or regenerate biodiversity, offering clear entry points for design practice in an accessible and interactive format. By positioning design not only as a means of delivery but also as a mode of inquiry and innovation, this work contributes to a broader regenerative design agenda, one that frames the built environment as an active participant in biodiversity restoration. It promotes approaches that are ecologically grounded, culturally attuned, and urgently needed to address biodiversity loss and to build urban ecological resilience.