What is a
LAND USE
PLAN?
Cities need homes, buildings, schools, parks, roads
and infrastructure to support their residents’ daily
lives. With so many important elements supporting
a great city, how are they organized so that they all
work together?
Most municipalities organize city-building elements
by making land use plans to guide long-term
development. This helps to make sure our city’s
homes and amenities are organized to support
residents, and that there are efficient ways to travel
to work, shopping and fun.
A land use plan is a vision for how we want our city
to grow and change. Plans can vary in scale—some
land use plans apply to all of Edmonton, while others
are focused on a small part of a neighbourhood. This
booklet will explain more about the different types
of land use plans used in Edmonton.
Contents
04 What is a Land Use Plan?
05 Who Makes Land Use Plans?
06 What Kinds of Land Use Plans Are There?
10 We Have a Plan...Now What?
12 How Do Plans Work Together?
13 Why Do Some Plans Disagree?
14 The History of Land Use Plans in Edmonton
14 How is a Land Use Plan Different From The
Zoning Bylaw?
3
What is a Land Use Plan?
Land use plans provide a shared vision for our city’s future and a plan for how
to get there. They are carefully and collaboratively drafted by city planners,
citizens, industry and City Council to proactively manage growth and
improve cities.
All land use plans consider the physical or built environment and how it
interacts with the natural environment. Land use plans also help to guide the
types of future activities or uses that can take place in different areas.
Land use plans can be developed for any scale. They can apply at the:
•• Regional level, covering multiple municipalities
•• City-wide level, including the location of new neighbourhoods
•• Neighbourhood level, including the location of homes, schools, parks,
shopping, roads and transit
The physical or built
environment includes
things like houses, shops,
high rises, roads, street
furniture and playgrounds—
basically, anything that
we build.
4
Who Makes Land Use Plans?
People make plans! Some of the people who may contribute to a land use
plan include residents, industry, city planners and City Council.
Plans for new communities are typically initiated by developers in
consultation with city planners.
In existing neighbourhoods, city planners will work with citizens,
stakeholders, builders and other groups to create a plan. City planners use
many different types of engagement tools to learn what people think and
value. These tools can include open houses, workshops, online surveys and
interactive booths at community events, like farmers’ markets or festivals.
City Council must approve all land use plans at a Land Use City Council Public
Hearing before they are adopted and used by the City to guide decision making.
The plans we develop now should serve the needs of present-day and future
Edmontonians. Working together means that everyone has a say in how our
city grows.
5
What Kinds of Land Use Plans
Are There?
The Alberta Municipal Government Act (MGA) defines and describes the
types of land use plans the City of Edmonton uses to manage growth and
change. There are two main types of plans described in the MGA: statutory
and non-statutory plans.
Statutory Plans
A statutory plan is a document that has been adopted by City Council as a
Bylaw, which requires three readings at a special City Council meeting called
a Public Hearing. Statutory plans must be considered when planners and
development officers exercise discretion in the decision making process. The
MGA lists the types of possible statutory plans, including:
Regional Plans Municipal Development Plans
Area Redevelopment Plans Area Structure Plans
6
REGIONAL PLANS
Regional plans consider matters that impact multiple jurisdictions or
municipalities. Environmental, social and economic issues often cross city or
town boundaries and require big-picture solutions. A collaborative approach
to planning is needed to balance factors and interests such as population
growth, urban sprawl, maintaining farmland, planning efficient transportation
networks and protecting natural areas. By working on issues that cross
boundaries together, the outcome is more comprehensive and effective.
Edmonton is the largest city within the Capital Region and a member of the
Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board, or EMRB.1 The EMRB is a group of 24
municipalities that work together to ensure long term economic prosperity
and quality of life for all citizens within the Edmonton Metropolitan Region.
The Edmonton Metropolitan Region Growth Plan, Re-imagine. Plan. Build. was
delivered to the Government of Alberta in 2016, and provides broad policy
direction for all member municipalities to follow. It is an update to the 2010
Growth Plan: Growing Forward.
CITY-WIDE PLANS
A Municipal Development Plan (MDP) is a city-wide strategic growth and
development plan. Under the Municipal Government Act, every municipality
with more than 3,500 people must have an MDP. MDPs are the only statutory
plans listed in the Municipal Government Act that are not optional.
Edmonton’s MDP is The Way We Grow, which was adopted in 2010. It is the
highest level statutory plan in Edmonton. It outlines land use policies and
growth targets designed to guide the city’s evolution and development for
the next ten years. The Way We Grow is closely integrated with Edmonton’s
Transportation Master Plan (TMP), The Way We Move. This ensures future
land use, growth patterns and transportation systems within Edmonton
are coordinated.
1 formerly known as the Capital Region Board or CRB, with the new EMRB pending Provincial
approval of the new legislation in 2017.
7
PLANS IN MATURE AND ESTABLISHED NEIGHBOURHOODS
An Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP) outlines a vision for growth and change in
areas of the city that have already been developed. An ARP should align with
the overall vision and strategic direction for the city described in the MDP.
Boundaries for an ARP are often driven by context and are not necessarily
the same as neighbourhood boundaries. ARPs usually include and consider
significant amounts of community and stakeholder input before being
considered and passed by City Council.
Today, many of the new ARPs in Edmonton are focused on commercial or
main street corridors, or areas around existing or future LRT stations. This is
because these are the places that planners and City Council anticipate seeing
the most change and need for extra planning to guide growth.
PLANS FOR NEW AREAS
Area Structure Plans (ASPs) lay out an area's long-term plan for development.
In Edmonton, ASPs generally cover areas of at least 200 hectares and provide
a framework for the development of several neighbourhoods.
Neighbourhood Structure Plans (NSP) are sub-plans that support an Area
Structure Plan. An NSP will describe the vision and general patterns of
development for a new community. They usually apply to areas that affect
between 4,000 to 7,000 people.
Together, ASPs and NSPs identify where residential, commercial, institutional
and recreational development will be located, and how essential municipal
services such as water, sewer systems, arterial and collector roads, schools,
parks and fire protection will be provided. These plans also identify how
development will be staged over time, and will set density targets to help
new development meet city-wide and Edmonton Metropolitan Region
growth objectives.
8
Non-Statutory Plans
In addition to statutory plans, City Council may adopt other policy documents
that guide decision making. These are sometimes referred to as non‑statutory
plans. These types of planning documents are also supported by public
consultation, evidence and best practices. They can be very influential and
provide sound guidance for decision making.
Policy plans can include design guidelines, planning strategies, implementation
plans and other planning documents. Some examples of non‑statutory plans
in Edmonton include:
Winter Design Historical Resources
Guidelines Management Plan
Energy Transition Climate Change
Strategy and Adaptation Strategy
9
We Have a Plan… Now What?
Realizing the vision for the future described in a land use plan is a long-term
process that can happen over decades. Success depends on collaboration
between home owners, citizens, stakeholders, industry and the City of
Edmonton. This collaboration is important because of the many factors that
affect city growth that the City cannot control, including:
What the landowner wants to do. Are the lots the right size to build
what is outlined in the plan?
Do they want to keep their property
as it is, redevelop it themselves or Sometimes lots have to be
sell it to someone else? consolidated together into a bigger
parcel or subdivided into smaller
lots to support certain kinds of new
buildings. Consolidation, in particular,
can take time as it typically relies on
multiple landowners all agreeing to
sell their land for redevelopment.
10
The real estate market and The cost of new or upgraded
what is practical to build. infrastructure to ensure a
property is properly serviced.
New development has to make
financial sense. Sometimes infrastructure can be
difficult or expensive to build.
11
How Do Plans Work Together?
There are over 180 plans in the City of Edmonton. The only way all these plans
can work together to achieve a common vision for the future is through a
recognized hierarchy of plans.
The direction provided by plans at the top of the hierarchy is fairly general.
As you go down the hierarchy, guidance becomes more specific and detailed.
Planning done at any level of the hierarchy should comply with the direction
given by plans above it and must give direction to the more specific plans
below it.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT ACT (MGA)
EDMONTON METROPOLITAN
REGION GROWTH PLAN
MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (MDP)
THE WAY WE GROW
Direction for the
Zoning Bylaw flows from
AREA
the MDP and potentially from
REDEVELOPMENT
ASPs or ARPs. The Zoning
PLANS (ARP) Bylaw contains the prescriptive
development regulations for
An ARP may replace sites, with the plans guiding
an ASP as the discretion.
neighbourhood moves
into a new stage of its
lifecycle. AREA STRUCTURE
PLANS (ASP)
ZONING BYLAW
12
Why Do Some Plans Disagree?
You may find that some older plans don’t conform to the vision set out in the
Municipal Development Plan. How come?
This is because ideas and best practices for land use planning change over
time as planners, residents, industry and City Council learn from past
redevelopment experience, best practices from other places, and new
theories and ideas about urban growth. The way we plan also adapts over
time to reflect the needs of a changing city and our residents.
Planning work tends to focus on key areas identified for major growth and
change. This means that older plans might not be regularly updated. Focusing
on the areas identified for change means that City resources are directed to
the places that need the most support. The result is that sometimes, older
planning documents may reflect Edmonton’s past and are not as prepared for
Edmonton’s future.
13
The History of Land Use Plans
in Edmonton
Land use planning began in Edmonton’s first city-wide
Edmonton when a settlement plans were prepared in 1907 and
was established outside 1912. These plans focused on
the fort. A public meeting to beautification and resulted in the
discuss the location of a main city’s first parks, the downtown
street and market square civic centre and preservation of
was held in 1881. most of the river valley.
Edmonton grew rapidly after World War II because of the baby boom
and discovery of oil nearby. In 1949, the City of Edmonton hired Noel
Dant to establish a planning department. Dant and his successors
prepared dozens of neighbourhood unit plans for areas such as
Parkallen, Sherbrooke, Holyrood and Meadowlark Park. These were
plans for the auto age, with street networks designed to discourage
traffic near homes and schools but with wide roads at the edges of
neighbourhoods to connect drivers to offices and industry.
Planning on a larger scale began in
the 1960s with a move toward plans The 1960s also saw the
that applied to many neighbourhoods first comprehensive
at once. The first of these was municipal plans. The
the 1971 Mill Woods Development first municipal plan
Plan, which identified eight new was prepared in 1963.
communities and a town centre. It was revised multiple
times and finally
adopted in 1971.
Edmonton’s current Municipal
Development Plan, The Way New municipal plans with
We Grow, was approved policies reflecting their times
in 2010. It embraces were approved in 1980, 1990
development “up, in and out.” and 1998.
14
How is a Plan Different From the
Zoning Bylaw?
Land use plans set out the big picture vision for an area. They are high level
overviews of how an area or neighbourhood will develop. The Zoning Bylaw is
the main tool that the City uses to implement the goals and objectives in land
use plans.
Zoning is the legal tool that describes how buildings are situated on an
individual site, as well as building size and the type of activities that can take
place inside of them. It ensures new buildings support the vision in the land
use plan. The Zoning Bylaw establishes development standards within each
zone and provides a system for issuing development permits.
If you would like to know more about Zoning, please see the What Is Zoning?
booklet.
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