The City Plan: the people’s plan
The City Plan was adopted by Edmonton City Council today. This development marks an important milestone in Edmonton’s journey to become a healthy, urban, climate-resilient city of two million people that supports a prosperous region.
It is also one of the pieces of policy I will be most proud of when I leave office next year because it embodies an important aspect of why I became Mayor: to build a better city for the next generation so that more of our kids and grandkids might choose to stay here and be proud of their hometown.
The City Plan is intergenerational work — it’s about keeping Edmonton functioning as it grows so that we, and future generations, can thrive. This plan provides us with a long term vision that adapts to changes and stressed that come our way. It ensures Edmonton stays competitive and attractive relative to other cities, so that when we emerge from this pandemic we’re in a good position to battle other big cities for top talent — both in terms of attracting people to our city and keeping our younger generation in Edmonton.
The City Plan combines a Municipal Development Plan and Transportation Master Plan, and includes strategic direction in environmental planning, social planning and economic development. It is intentional in its goals to drive growth to be more fiscally efficient for taxpayers, and also in its goal to build a city that is climate-resilient with lower in GHGs and with a robust transit infrastructure.
It also lays the blueprint down to build an Edmonton that is connected and community-oriented: The City Plan’s six Guiding Values are the plan’s policy directions (Belong, Live, Thrive, Access, Preserve and Create). These policy directions represent the aspirations of Edmontonians and articulate the choices we need to make to become a healthier, more urban, climate-resilient city supportive of a prosperous region.
And let me focus on “the region” for a second because I’d like to stress that the City Plan is not just about building a better Edmoton, but rather a better Edmonton Metro region as a whole. Our region is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan regions in the country. The City Plan leverages that economic strength by promoting regional connectivity and shared prosperity through coordination, communication and advocacy — because we know we are stronger when we work together to attract industries, build communities and drive innovation.
Finally, at the heart of it, The City Plan is the people’s plan. It is the result of two years of public engagement and thousands of conversations with diverse groups of Edmontonians from all parts of the city. The result of those conversations is a plan that responds to what Edmontonians said they want to see in their future city.
We have already started building that future Edmonton with projects such as our Economic Development Action Plan, the 1.5 Degree Climate Change report, and Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative to name a few and I cannot wait to see more of that vision come to life in the coming years.