(Re)designing Māori Streets: Priorities and Pathways for Supporting Urban Aotearoa Street Design – White Paper

(Re)designing Māori Streets: Priorities and Pathways for Supporting Urban Aotearoa Street Design is a white paper published in December 2025 by Spatial Justice Aotearoa, authored by Kimiora Raerino, Rebecca Kiddle, James Berghan, and Marjorie Lipsham, in collaboration with the late Dr Morehu McDonald. Funded by Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga, the paper draws on three sources of evidence — a literature review, a national Māori Streets Survey, and a series of Māori-led design wānanga — to set out a coherent case for reimagining street design in Aotearoa from a Māori-led perspective. The paper argues that current street environments are structurally misaligned with Māori values, authority, and relationships to whenua and te taiao. It identifies six priority outcomes for Māori street design — spanning ecological restoration, intergenerational wellbeing, visible Māori identity, people-centred movement, community connection, and meaningful Māori governance — and outlines practical pathways for change across systems, design practice, and delivery. The paper concludes with focused recommendations for government agencies, local authorities, mana whenua, and delivery partners.