Urban planning is the process of developing and designing urban areas. Encompassed in that process is the use of open land, air, water, and the built ...Skiptocontent~6MINREAD7TypesOfUrbanPlanningConceptsExplainedWebreakdownseveraltypesofurbanplanningconceptstohelpyouunderstandwhatittakestobreathelifeintoacity.RachelSmithAsaClearPointConsultant,RachelworkswithClearPointcustomerstoimprovetheirperformancemanagementandstrategyexecution.FILEDUNDERStrategicPlanning Urbanplanningistheprocessofdevelopinganddesigningurbanareas.Encompassedinthatprocessistheuseofopenland,air,water,andthebuiltenvironment,includingbuildings,transportation,economicandsocialfunctions.Typicallyusedaspartofalargercityplan,anurbanplanshouldtiebacktoanorganization’smissionandvisionstatements.Urbanplannersdirectthedevelopmentofcitiesandtowns.Awell-developed,effectiveurbanplanrequiresthoroughresearchandinputfromnumerousstakeholders,includingcitizens,landowners,andgovernmentstaff.Urbanplannersshouldthinkabouttheirplansfromtheperspectivesofallwhowillbeimpactedbytheirefforts.Andsinceimplementingtheplanusestaxpayerdollars,theplanshouldbeaspracticalandcost-effectiveaspossible.Fromalocalgovernmentperspective,urbanplanningtouchesonnumerouscity-lifeelements—newandpre-existingland,buildings,roads,communalspaces,transportation,economicdevelopment,infrastructure,andtheenvironment,amongothers.We’vebroadlycategorizedtheseaspectsintodifferentconceptualareasbelow.Theseareasarecommonlyreferredtoastypesofurbanplanning,butit’simportanttounderstandthattheyarenotmutuallyexclusive—foranurbanplantobecohesive,itshouldincludemanyorallofthebelowareas.7TypesofUrbanPlanning1.StrategicUrbanPlanningStrategicurbanplanningfocusesonsettinghigh-levelgoalsanddeterminingdesiredareasofgrowthforacityormetropolitanarea.Theresultoftheplanningprocessisastrategicplan—alsocalledthedevelopmentplan,corestrategy,orcomprehensiveplan.Thestrategicplan’sgoalsmayincludeeasingtransportationthroughoutthecity,creatingmorecommunityspaces,improvingcitizens