Let’s regenerate streets
I’m Laura.
I believe streets are the living laboratory of the regenerative future we need. And they are home to all of us.
If we want to strengthen community, the place to start is on our doorstep.
Now Open: Street Storytelling Academy
We all have a role to play in shaping streets that help us flourish
What if, in the future, streets were synonymous with community; and were a source of joy, wellbeing and connection to nature?
What if they were not just the conduits for travelling from A to B, but places where we share experiences and cultivate the future we want, together?
If we want to unlock new possibilities for streets, we must begin with a shared understanding of where we are and where we want to go. That means connecting on a human level with the people streets are for. It means recognising we all have different lived experience of streets.
Wayfinder Labs’ mission is to help street designers and communities realise their visions for regenerative streets by sharing stories and expanding the repertoire of street design tools.
I bring diverse stakeholders together to get curious, reciprocate and regenerate streets. My approach puts community outcomes at the heart of planning and design and draws on my experience in communication, systems innovation, user-centred design, project evaluation and transport planning.
Read more: The Wayfinder Approach — Wayfinder Labs
Listen
Coming soon: The Regenerative Streets podcast
Laura speaks with citizens who are using streets in inspiring ways. Ways that connect people and places, to regenerate human, community and environmental health.
Learn
Expand your repertoire of street design tools while gaining new perspectives.
Join our vibrant Wayfinder Community, develop skills in storytelling and systems thinking; and discuss ideas for regenerative streets as part of Wayfinder bookclub.
Reach out to discuss group enrolments and in-house training and facilitation.
Enrol now: Street Storytelling Academy (November 2025)
Create
Put community outcomes at the heart of planning and design
I can support you adopt a systemic approach to street design that builds shared understanding and motivates change toward a regenerative vision for streets.
Book a call so we can find the approach that’s going to help you catalyse regenerative change in your community
“If we are to bring to life a future that nurtures human and environmental wellbeing, we must revive streets as places that people go to build connections.”
About Dr Laura Aston
I am a transport planner, systems thinker, designer and facilitator. With experience across government, research, consulting and advocacy, I have worked in transport and sustainability from many angles, giving me a sense of both the opportunity as well as the challenges, of collaborating for systemic change.
I completed a PhD at Monash University that explored the impact of urban design and land use on public transport ridership that helped me see the land use-transport system as part of a broader socio-economic system. I learned what levers we have in the built environment to make it more convenient to travel in active and inclusive ways. But years of working with wonderful designers, researchers and advocates - who know what safe and inclusive streets look like - made me realise that we don't have an engineering problem, we have an imagination problem.
We need to put people back into the story of streets.
I’m also a mother, advocate, inner suburbanite and a deeply curious human being. All of this shapes how I see the world. The work of community regeneration asks that I bring all of myself to work; listen deeply and trust in the reciprocity of people and systems to nurture change.
I've found my agency and my voice when it comes to connecting with people over a vision of streets that nurture communities and allow life to flourish. Now I'm on a mission to help other find theirs.