UDINZ One Day Conference - “Beyond the Network”

Reserve your spot at a new UDINZ One Day Conference to be held on 30 June, 2026.

Beyond the Network: a deep dive on disaggregated infrastructure

Building on recent UDINZ site tours and development case studies that have highlighted the practical potential of site‑ and precinct‑scale solutions, Beyond the Network explores a deliberate shift away from an exclusive reliance on large, centralised, trunk‑based infrastructure systems towards more flexible, localised and precinct‑scale approaches to delivering power and three waters.

While traditional network models remain essential, they are increasingly struggling to keep pace with growth, urban intensification, climate pressures and affordability constraints. Capacity bottlenecks, long lead times and high upfront costs are now material barriers to development and housing delivery. Where conventional systems cannot respond quickly enough incumbent infrastructure providers are increasingly being asked to consider non‑networked alternatives and regulators and those formulating policy need to factor that into their thinking.

This one‑day conference focuses on what sits beyond conventional networks, including:

• Disaggregated infrastructure models that enable power and three waters to be delivered at precinct, site or sub‑network scale.
• Alternative ownership, funding and asset operation and governance arrangements.
• Precinct‑based solutions that better align infrastructure provision with land use, development sequencing and market demand.
• The resilience and redundancy benefits of diversified systems over single‑point network dependence.
• Whether the long‑established role of marae as resilient, place‑based community infrastructure — providing power, water, shelter and coordination - during times of disruption offers an alternative model for future urban form and infrastructure provision.
• Regulatory and institutional settings that either enable or constrain innovation outside the traditional network paradigm, including perspectives from incumbent electricity and water networks on risk, partnership models and future operating arrangements.

At Beyond the Network, we will ask how centralised systems can be complemented by smarter, more modular and more responsive approaches — particularly where network constraints are actively stalling development and limiting delivery sequencing and feasibility at a precinct scale.

At its core, the one‑day conference examines disaggregated infrastructure as a city‑shaping tool: one that can unlock stalled precincts, reduce development risk, accelerate delivery, and create more adaptable and resilient urban environments.

Beyond the Network brings together policymakers, infrastructure providers, developers, financiers and practitioners — alongside alternative technology providers, regulators and incumbent utilities — to reconsider where value is really created, and how infrastructure can move from being a constraint on development to a genuine enabler.

Who should attend: utilities and incumbent infrastructure operators, developers, policymakers regulators, financiers, consultants advising on development and infrastructure, suppliers and technology providers and anyone grappling with network constraints and interested in how precinct‑scale power and three waters solutions can unlock stalled development, improve resilience and reshape the New Zealand growth story.