Curious About District Plans?
The city is modernizing the way we think about urban planning. I thought this would be a great opportunity to highlight what District Planning is, where we are in the process, and what’s next.
It started with the City Plan (our municipal development plan and transportation master plan) that was approved by Council in 2020. Every municipality is required to have a municipal development plan. The City Plan sets the direction for the way Edmonton grows to a City of 2 million people. From mobility networks, open spaces, economic development, and more. This plan was built over several years and included extensive research, discussions with Council, and public engagement.
After the approval of the City Plan, several projects were started to bring the City Plan to life. This includes District Planning, Zoning Bylaw Renewal, Mass Transit Planning, and Growth Management Framework. Many of these projects are interrelated and happening in parallel. District Planning started in 2021 and currently is in phase 4 of the project timeline with revisions happening to the plans. The District Plans will come to Council for approval at some point in 2023 at a public hearing after further planned engagement in the spring of 2023.
So what exactly are districts?
Simply put, districts are a way to foster communities within communities throughout the City. A vision in which Edmontonians can meet their needs - leisure, shopping, health, employment etc within 15 minutes of where they live.
District planning allows us to look at areas as a cluster rather than neighbourhood by neighbourhood - making it difficult to plan on a larger scale. Currently we have neighbourhood redevelopment plans and area structure plans that do this at the neighbourhood level - some of which will be replaced with the approval of district plans and foster greater consistency throughout the City.
It’s the link between the high vision of the City plan and the parcel by parcel regulations of the zoning bylaw so we build a city for today and tomorrow. The proposed districts that intersect with Ward Anirniq are: Central Zone, Northwest Zone, and some industrial areas in the Jasper Place Zone.
I encourage all residents to learn more about district planning and the other initiatives underway so you understand what this project is about! There’s even a short video if you’re interested.
