If business is the lifeblood of cities, communities are their heart and soul. Urban development is not just about land use or infrastructure or employment. It is about how well people can live their lives in urban communities. Community development is founded on a blend of participation, opportunity, and coherence. Distinctive communities form within cities, around particular subdivisions, activities, structures, or networks. Understanding how communities evolve and interact, the resources, opportunities, and constraints they face, and the triggers to community development is critical to achieving balanced urban development, to providing a sound human resource platform for investment and growth, and delivering an environment and standard of amenity that meets the expectations and needs of all citizens. Facilitating and planning community development, including investment in community facilities, requires a range of skills. These include the capacity to engage with different groups, to draw on systematic techniques to learn and to listen, to negotiate and mediate, analyse and assess, and, most of all, to communicate well. The disciplines of demand and feasibility analysis remain critical to investment in facilities, while an understanding of the policy environment and of the roles and responsibilities of the many agencies involved in community development is critical. The experience of CityScope enables us to advise, lead, manage, or simply participate in community development initiatives at a variety of levels. We recognise the need for a team approach to community matters, and for a sound local grounding. Our clients include: Auckland City Council, Rodney District Council, North Shore City Council and private developers.

Tel +64 9 309 8390 | PO Box 91320 | Victoria Street West | Auckland 1142 | New Zealand