City Receives National Award for GSO2040 Comp Plan
Post Date:10/03/2022 4:35 PMThe City has received the 2022 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan from the American Planning Association (APA) in recognition of its focused, multi-year community engagement lead by Greensboro’s Planning Department.
The comprehensive plan, titled GSO2040, was recognized as the innovative leader in comprehensive plans and as a national example of how planning and planners work to make our communities better, stronger, and more resilient.
“GSO2040 is a modern plan, beautifully displayed online with a logical structure, well-considered strategies, and compelling presentation that reflects the voices, needs, and desires of the Greensboro community,” says Ben Hitchings, APA Board of Directors member and vice-chair of this year’s awards jury.
APA’s Burnham award honors one of America’s most famous planners, known for his work on the 1909 Plan of Chicago, as well as for the quote: “Make no little plans; they have no magic…and probably themselves will not be realized…”
“We challenged ourselves in Planning to think about what we needed to guide growth and how we could craft a plan that would serve the city for the next 20 years,” says Sue Schwartz, department director. “We let ourselves – together with the people of Greensboro – think larger than life, more vivid than our imaginations, yet more attainable than many folks may have assumed the plan could be. I’m so proud of everyone who was part of this journey. We all share this honor.”
This is the second award GSO2040 has received; the first was the 2021 Marvin Collins Planning Award for a Comprehensive Plan from the NC chapter of APA in recognition of the science and art of planning.
This is also the second national APA award the Planning Department has received. Greensboro’s Southside Development Plan earned the 2003 Outstanding Planning Award for Implementation.
GSO2040, which outlines how Greensboro should develop in the next 20 years, was created with input from many public events and work sessions, public talks with nationally known development and planning experts, and input and assistance from most of the City’s departments and offices.
“This award validates our philosophy that a comp plan requires a full community approach, since it is a roadmap for how to become a city of lasting value with opportunities for all residents and visitors,” Schwartz says.Return to previous page >>
