5 Municipal Development Plan Examples

A municipal development plan (sometimes referred to as a community sustainability plan) is a framework used by municipalities to address long-term community development, land use, and growth in a responsible way.

For example, your municipality may need to manage a change in housing demand in the years to come, or your city may need to respond to future mass transit needs. A municipal development plan is the place to address problems like these.

Priorities differ from one municipality to the next, depending on things like natural resource dependency, rate of population increase, tourism, natural disaster prevalence, and more. Because municipal development plans take a long-term approach (considering developmental changes over at least the next 20 years), they help you make decisions for both current needs and future ones.

Below are five Canadian development plan examples, followed by a few things to consider so your development plan aligns with your strategy. Together they show different approaches to creating your municipal development plan.

5 Municipal Development Plan Examples

1. Calgary: This video explains why Calgary city officials decided to create a municipal development plan, how they developed it, and the outcome of their efforts.
2. Wood Buffalo: The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo created this video, which features a fun, animated conversation between a father and his daughter. It describes the municipality’s changing population growth and industry, and how those changes led to the municipal development plan.
3. Stony Plain: This development plan touches on five areas: community development, supportive infrastructure, economic opportunity, environmental responsibility, and governance and partners. For each aspect, it lists a description and bulleted, high-level “directions” outlining the way forward.
4. Calgary: “Cowtown,” located in Alberta, has an in-depth development plan that includes seven goals: a prosperous economy, a compact city, great communities, good urban design, connecting the city, greening the city, and managing growth and change. The document outlines the role and scope of the development plan, the policies put in place to meet those goals, a framework for future change, and more.
5. Leduc: Closer to Edmonton is Leduc, whose development plan lays out sustainability principles in these areas: environment and infrastructure, economy and tourism, building the city, social wellness and safety, recreation and culture, and governance. For each vision area, the development plan outlines specific strategies for managing change in these areas over the years.

Have you taken your municipal strategy into consideration?

Municipal development plans and municipal strategic plans aren’t synonyms, but they overlap a great deal. They share similar goals, but a development plan looks at these goals “from a land use and development perspective” (according to the city of Canmore, Alberta). A development plan is also meant to “shape the city’s urban form and direct the development and implementation of more detailed plans” (according to the city of Edmonton, Alberta). A strategic plan, on the other hand, takes all areas of a city into consideration, including citizen services, operational efficiency, employee development, revenue and expense management, and public safety.

If your municipality has (or is planning to create) a municipal development plan, be sure to consider the following:

• Your budget. A city strategic plan takes into account a city’s main goals (objectives) for a three- to five-year period. Those goals can then be used to allocate your budget. Because municipal development plans typically look at a much longer time period (20+ years), it may be difficult to determine your budget with a development plan alone.
• Your community’s feedback. Your municipal development plan should incorporate the needs and desires of the public. Without their feedback, you’ll likely end up with a plan that doesn’t fit the needs of residents. For example, if you know your citizens love their green space, make land preservation a future priority. Or if your city relies heavily on clean water to run a large number of breweries, as Fort Collins, Colorado does, make sure your plan for sustainability emphasizes preserving clean water and rivers. Many municipalities like to gather public feedback through surveys, workshops, or focus groups before they get started planning. If you do, ask questions like:

1. Where do you live within the city/municipality?
2. How do you get around?
3. What do you do for a living?
4. What do you value most about [your municipality]?

• Your short-term strategic themes. Municipal development plans typically focus on long-term development and sustainability, so they may not account for the high-level goals your organization is focused on in the short term. For example, if your city has the goal of becoming “the most business-friendly city in the state,” decide which projects and measures will help you achieve it.

Before you move forward with your development plan, make sure your strategy, including your vision, objectives, and leadership, is structured correctly. Once you have a better handle on your city’s strategy, your long-term development plan will have more impact.