<p>Urban biodiversity is increasingly recognised as essential to both ecological resilience and human well-being. Yet much of the discourse around urban biodiversity design, nature-based solutions, and therapeutic landscapes remains grounded in Western epistemologies, overlooking the depth and sophistication of Indigenous knowledge systems. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori, as the tangata whenua (people of the land), hold a long tradition of relational knowledge that integrates ecological understanding, cultural practice, spiritual connection, and community well-being into a coherent, place-specific worldview. Drawing on three related empirical and theoretical studies, this paper develops and advances a Therapeutic Cultural Environments (TCE) framework as an applied design model for Indigenous-informed urban biodiversity planning and nature-based solutions. The framework synthesises findings from a systematic literature review of sense of place and belonging, qualitative focus group research with Māori kaumātua (elders), and narrative interviews with rongoā Māori (traditional healing) practitioners, all conducted in the Wairarapa region. The paper argues that effective urban biodiversity design must move beyond species counts and green infrastructure metrics to engage with the cultural, spiritual, and intergenerational dimensions of human–nature relationships. Five intersecting principles, whakapapa (genealogy and relational knowing), mātauranga and tikanga (knowledge and customs), hinengaro and wairua (mind and spirit), tinana and tāngata (body and people), and whenua (land), are presented as actionable design drivers for biodiverse urban environments that serve both ecological and cultural health. The TCE framework offers a transferable methodology for co-designing with Indigenous communities to produce landscapes that are biologically rich, culturally meaningful, therapeutically effective, and socially just.</p>