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What are the goals of the NPI?
Starting in the urban neighbourhood of Hintonburg, city planners have set out to achieve three overarching goals (City of Ottawa, Legislative Agenda, 2006):
- Enabling Community Connections
First, the Neighbourhood Planning Initiative intends to establish a structured point of connection to the city for neighbourhoods. The idea is to provide neighbourhoods with single-window access to a wide-range of departments and city service providers (police, community centres, etc.). Similarly, the pilot is designed to help city officials incorporate community knowledge and resources within the neighbourhood planning process to better reflect the needs, priorities and concerns of local citizens.
- Strengthening Inter-departmental Collaboration
Second, the City of Ottawa hopes that a more holistic, place-sensitive approach to planning will lead to improved inter-departmental coordination. Multi-functional teams have been formed across the three key departments: Public Works and Services (PWS), Planning and Growth Management (PGM) and Community and Protective Services (CPS). This is the first time in the City of Ottawa’s history that these departments have tried to work together in a more concerted fashion.
- Nurturing Citizen-Councillor Conversations
Third, the Neigbourhood Planning Initiative is establishing a mechanism for citizens to define their needs and priorities, and to package and present them to municipal politicians. City Councillors can also offer the process to constituents interested in rolling up their sleeves to get involved in community development, thereby contributing to a greater sense of civic participation. In addition, the Neighbourhood Planning Initiative is attempting to put the ‘community-based planning’ and ‘collaborative community building’ objectives of Ottawa’s 20/20 plan into practice, and to more generally, develop innovative models for place-based planning and service delivery.
What is the process of the NPI?
The NPI has involved an intensive effort to bring citizens together through meetings, open houses, surveys and other events to collect feedback on three separate, but interrelated projects focusing on:
- street infrastructure (e.g. sewage, transit);
- community design (e.g. zoning, streetscaping);
- and other broader community issues (e.g. arts, heritage, environment, crime)
In addition to the community, City departments responsible for urban planning and delivering local services are trying to increase inter-departmental collaboration in an effort to develop a more coherent, place-sensitive approach towards neighbourhoods. Multi-functional teams have been formed to integrate jurisdictions such as land use planning, physical infrastructure planning and social service plans so that the planning process incorporate physical, social and economic considerations.
Impact
The NPI is expected to improve both the process and outcomes of local decision-making and neighbourhood development. In particular, a number of benefits are expected such as:
- More responsive local government that is better aligned with local needs
- More efficient and effective usage of city resources
- Improved coordination of services and growth and an enhanced process of local participation and democracy
Learning
In addition to learning and documentation at the City of Ottawa, the Centre for Urban Research and Education is involved in providing research and monitoring support to the Neighourhood Pilot process as a case study. This has involved addressing a number of key research questions, themes and approaches. More…
Opportunities
If proven effective, the Neighbourhood Planning Initiative will be adopted across the city, starting with communities perceived to have the most pressing challenges (e.g. crime, poverty, infrastructure, etc.).
More Information:
For more information about the NPI project, visit the City of Ottawa’s Web site. |
