SPATIAL JUSTICE AOTEAROA

About Us

Spatial Justice Aotearoa is an independent research, design, planning, and advocacy practice working toward more just, equitable, and sustainable cities and communities across Aotearoa New Zealand.

We work at the intersection of research, policy, and practice, exploring how housing, transport, urban development, planning systems, and public decision-making shape people’s experiences of place. Our work asks not only how cities and communities function, but who they work for, whose needs are prioritised, and whose voices are absent from the decisions that shape them.

An integrated practice

Research, design, planning, and advocacy are often treated as separate areas of work. At Spatial Justice Aotearoa, they are deliberately connected.

Our research provides the evidence and insight that informs our design, planning, and policy work. Our practical work exposes new questions and challenges that shape future research. Both inform the advocacy we undertake alongside communities and within public policy arenas.

This integrated approach allows us to move beyond identifying problems. We translate knowledge into strategies, designs, recommendations, tools, and public conversations that can support meaningful change.

Independent and kaupapa-driven

As an independent organisation, we are not tied to any single institution, discipline, sector, or political agenda. This gives us the freedom to take a long-term and kaupapa-driven approach, to ask difficult questions, and to work across traditional professional and organisational boundaries.

We bring together rigorous evidence, creative and critical thinking, and practical knowledge of how planning and development systems operate. The advice and solutions we provide are grounded in research, informed by real-world practice, and shaped by the people and places they affect.

Working in partnership

We work alongside iwi, hapū, communities, local and central government, public agencies, researchers, and private-sector organisations. We approach these relationships as partnerships, recognising that meaningful change depends on trust, collaboration, and respect for different forms of knowledge and expertise.

Our work is grounded in te ao Māori and guided by a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We recognise the authority, knowledge, and responsibilities of mana whenua, and the importance of creating built environments and planning systems that uphold relationships between people, whenua, and future generations.

A focused and collaborative team

Spatial Justice Aotearoa is a small, senior team with expertise spanning urban research, architecture, design, planning, policy, and community engagement. Our size allows us to remain responsive, collaborative, and closely involved throughout each project.

For larger or more specialised projects, we work with trusted colleagues and partner organisations who share our values and bring complementary skills. This allows us to expand our capacity while maintaining the quality, integrity, and kaupapa of our work.

Across everything we do, our purpose remains the same: to help create places and systems that serve everyone, respond to the needs and aspirations of communities, honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and protect the inheritance we pass on to our mokopuna.