Environment Canterbury is a strategic partner with regard to the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy (UDS). The UDS is a collaborative partnership between the Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, the District Councils of Selwyn and Waimakariri, and the NZ Transport Agency, to manage growth and development in the Greater Christchurch area, including the location of future housing, development of social and retail activity centres, areas for new employment and integration with transport networks.

Read the Greater Christchurch Urban Development Strategy and Action Plan (pdf 4.2 MB) (2007)

Environment Canterbury has a statutory role to ensure that the location, form and manner of urban development seeks to minimise significant adverse environmental impacts, particularly in relation to transport, energy, amenity and areas prone to natural hazards. In many cases, the detailed decision-making then occurs through the city and district plans of the relevant territorial authority.

Well planned and designed urban areas, integrated with efficient infrastructure networks can have significant economic, social and cultural benefits and also minimise the impacts that modern human settlements inevitably have on the environment and the consumption of resources.

Two key UDS Actions for which Environment Canterbury has lead responsibility relate to making amendments to its statutory land use and transport documents. Respectively, these are the Regional Policy Statement and the Regional Land Transport Strategy.

The following document provides a useful high-level and comprehensive overview of the integrated planning approach to growth management in Greater Christchurch:

Integrated Growth Management in Greater Christchurch (Dec 2008) (pdf 607 kB)