In the new era of territorial space planning system, urban design as a tool of spatial development and governance, is an important support for the realization of high-quality development of territorial space. How to cultivate suitable urban design talents is the focus of the current urban design teaching reform. The urban design course of the University of Auckland in New Zealand adopts the characteristic action research studio teaching, and attaches great importance to the comprehensive quality training of urban design talents, paying attention to the cultivation of space design and the governance ability of urban design talents. Its experience has certain reference and reference significance for studio teaching in our country. Studio teaching of urban design in the University of Auckland adheres to the innovative teaching philosophy of CPS and features action research, focusing on the cultivation of students’ academic accomplishment, critical thinking, decision-making ability, research independence, and comprehensive ability of social responsibility. Studio teaching of urban design includes five parts: current situation investigation, problem discovery, opinion generation, solution formulation, and solution strategy formation. The teaching content covers a series of courses such as spatial design and governance implementation. Through teaching methods such as lectures, research, reading, discussion, and consultation, urban morphology theory is integrated into project practice teaching, letting students participate in the action research of urban dynamic development and construction from multiple perspectives to achieve the purpose of innovative problem-solving. It introduced the application and practice of the action research method in urban design teaching in the University of Auckland, taking the development of the Auckland waterfront plot and the development of studio teaching as an example. Finally, Aiming at the problems existing in the teaching of urban design in my country, this paper puts forward suggestions on the ability training that emphasizes comprehensive quality, enriching the studio content of management and implementation, and teaching methods of action research.