The Wai Horotiu Queen Street project reconfigures Auckland’s primary civic spine to prioritise people while expressing the distinct identity of Tāmaki Makaurau. Rather than defaulting to generic tactical urbanism devices, the design establishes a place-specific design language grounded in Te Wai Horotiu valley and Queen Streets urban character.

The project reconnects upper city (Aotea Precinct) and lower city (Downtown Waterfront) through a coherent sequence of movement and occupation zones. Delivered across five staged areas from Customs Street to Mayoral Drive, the transformation converts four traffic-dominated blocks into a verdant, pedestrian-priority corridor while retaining and respecting the historic street fabric.

Tactical Urbanism becomes a testing ground for long-term change. A shared path, new micro-mobility lane and reconfigured movement hierarchy demonstrate clear modal shift while maintaining servicing and public transport access. Extensive co-design with stakeholders established quality expectations and measurable performance criteria, allowing iteration and refinement.

Wai Horotiu Queen Street operates as transitional infrastructure - advancing the City Centre Masterplan, Access for Everyone and C40 Green and Healthy Streets commitments through built intervention. It provides tangible evidence for pedestrianisation, building public confidence while embedding cultural narrative and active-mode priority into the heart of the city.