---
title: Master Planning | CI Design, Christchurch
description: Master planning for subdivisions, schools, reserves and mixed-use sites across New Zealand — one cohesive vision carried from concept through to a consented, staged plan.
image: https://cidesign.nz/hubfs/Images/Logo/CI.Logo.png.png
---

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Service 01 · The vision that everything else follows

# One plan the whole site can *grow* into

Master planning sets the direction before a single detail is drawn — how land is used, how people move through it, where open space sits, and how it can be built out over years without losing its shape. Every later stage of design has to agree with it.

[Talk to us about your site](https://cidesign.nz/contact?hsLang=en) [See all services](https://cidesign.nz/service?hsLang=en)

01

The first move on any multi-stage or multi-year project

Staged

Built to work at every phase, not just once finished

1

Single cohesive vision, carried by one team start to finish

What it is

## The framework every later decision has to fit

Master planning works at the scale of the whole site, not one part of it — land use, movement, open space, infrastructure and staging, considered together before any detail is locked in. It's the reference every later design decision gets checked against.

Done well, it means a site built over five stages and ten years still reads as one considered place — not a series of additions that happen to share a boundary.

![Master plan drawing showing land use, movement routes and open space resolved across a site](https://cidesign.nz/hubfs/Images/Site%20Photos/Craig-03.jpg) Land use, movement and open space, resolved together before any one part is drawn in detail

Who it's for

## Anywhere a site needs to grow with intent

Master planning comes up most often at the start of a project — before land use, budget or staging decisions have been locked in.

Residential & mixed-use developers

Subdivisions and greenfield sites where street layout, open space and staging shape both liveability and value.

Councils & public land

Reserves, town centres and civic land where competing uses need to be resolved into one workable plan.

Schools & education

Campuses growing over multiple building programmes, where each stage needs to sit within a longer-term site logic.

Iwi & community organisations

Whenua and community-held land where the plan has to hold cultural, practical and long-term aspirations together.

Commercial landholders

Sites with development potential across multiple parcels or timeframes, needing one plan to guide staged investment.

Why it's worth doing properly

## What a good master plan actually buys you

Not just a drawing — a decision-making tool that holds up through years of staged delivery, funding rounds and council review.

01

A site that stays coherent

Every stage built against the same vision, so the finished site reads as one place, not several.

02

Fewer costly reversals

Options tested and resolved early, before infrastructure or consented lots make change expensive.

03

Staging that actually works

A plan that functions properly at every phase, not just once every stage is built.

04

Stronger case for funders & councils

A clear, evidence-based document that boards, funders and council officers can follow and back.

05

Room to grow

Land use and infrastructure sized for what the site can become, not just its first stage.

06

One team, one thread

The same team that sets the plan carries it through detailed design — no vision lost in handoff.

How we work

## A four-stage plan, built to be used

01

Site & context analysis

Topography, access, constraints, opportunities and stakeholder aspirations, understood before any options are drawn.

02

Concept options

Two or three genuinely different ways the site could work, tested against the brief, the budget and the land itself.

03

Preferred master plan

A single plan resolved in detail — land use, movement, open space, staging — ready to guide every stage that follows.

04

Staging & delivery framework

A clear sequence for what gets built first, what it depends on, and how the site holds together at every phase.

In practice

## Where this shows up in our work

Master planning is the starting point for most of our larger education, public realm and development projects — setting the site-wide vision that landscape architecture, CPTED and accessibility work then gets built into. It's rarely delivered on its own; it's the plan the rest of the project answers to. See our [full project portfolio](https://cidesign.nz/project?hsLang=en) for examples of the disciplines it sits alongside.

Common questions

## Master planning, explained

What is master planning in landscape architecture?

Master planning is the process of setting a single, coherent vision for a whole site — how land is used, how people and vehicles move through it, where open space sits, and how it can grow — before any one part is designed in detail. It's the framework every later stage of design has to agree with.

When should master planning start on a project?

Before any detailed design work begins, and ideally before land use, staging or budget decisions are locked in. A master plan is meant to test options and set direction — the earlier it starts, the more it can actually shape the outcome rather than justify decisions already made.

How is master planning different from a single-stage landscape design?

A single-stage design solves one area in detail. A master plan works at the scale of the whole site and across time — it sets out how stage one connects to stage five, so a project built over several years still reads as one place rather than a series of unrelated additions.

Does a master plan need to be finalised before applying for resource consent?

It depends on the scale and district plan requirements, but a well-developed master plan is usually a strong asset for resource consent — it demonstrates a considered, evidence-based approach to land use, staging and effects, which councils respond well to.

Can a master plan be staged over multiple years?

Yes — staging is usually the point. A good master plan sets out what gets built first, what depends on what, and how the site still functions properly at every stage, not just once every stage is complete.

The team that sets your master plan carries it through to detailed design — no handoff, no vision lost in translation.

[Meet the team](https://cidesign.nz/team?hsLang=en)

## Planning a site that has to *grow* well?

Bring us in before the first line is drawn, and the master plan becomes the thread every later stage follows.

[Get in touch](https://cidesign.nz/contact?hsLang=en) [Explore all services](https://cidesign.nz/service?hsLang=en)

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