Urban Economics short courses: September & October

Sep 17, 2025

Motu Research's Senior Fellow Stuart Donovan is running urban economics short courses in Wellington (15-17 September), Auckland (22-24 September) and Christchurch (20-21 October).

These fun and intensive courses are designed for people with various academic and professional backgrounds. No formal economic training is required. 

The courses will introduce participants to key urban economic concepts, relevant research, and policy implications.

Stuart will draw on his experience working as both a researcher and a consultant in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands. He has run similar urban economics courses in many cities over the past five years. 

“Even though Aotearoa is already highly urbanised, the share of people living and working in our cities and towns is projected to continue to grow,” says Stuart. “Trends like this, common globally, motivated me to deliver this urban economics short course. We'll discuss some of the forces that have helped shape our cities and towns in the past - and how these forces might change in the future.” 

For more information about the courses, see the flyers at the top of this page, which contains detailed course information, links to the registration pages and more information on pricing.

Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara course 

This course is in partnership with Kirdan Lees from Sense Partners. 

Pricing and registration: https://forms.office.com/r/c6Q0pWBav7.

Online option: You can also attend the Wellington course online for a special price (50% of the standard price).

Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau course

This course will be delivered with recognised local expert Dr Shane Martin from MRCagney.

Pricing and registration: https://forms.office.com/r/mFzUV5AAT2 

Christchurch/Ōtautahi course

Pricing and registration: https://forms.office.com/r/xkuRLJ9XWv