Guidebook 101 Information Session

Guidebook for Great Communities (formerly known as the Developed Areas Guidebook)

Do you sit on your planning committee or are you involved in urban planning in your community? The City is adopting a new Guidebook for Great Communities (GGC) which directs how communities will evolve and grow. The Guidebook is the tool (statutory policy) that sets out guidance and a common understanding of how planning and development will contribute to a great community. The new Guidebook is the first step in the new planning system and sets the foundation for a renewed Land Use Bylaw.

What is the Guidebook?

The City is adopting a new Guidebook for Great Communities (GGC) which directs how communities will evolve and grow. The Guidebook is the tool (statutory policy) that sets out guidance and a common understanding of how development will contribute to a great community.

The new Guidebook influences the way that we approach local area planning (i.e., Area Redevelopment Plans also called Local Area Plans (LAPs)). Part of this approach is to establish Multi-Community Local Area Plans that include policies for a group of communities instead of those stand-alone plans, as was the practice in the past. This strategy allows a consistent approach across the places where life and activity occur, that does not always stop at community boundaries. This allows a larger picture of assessing amenities – like parks and schools, infrastructure – like roads and sewer, and shopping or service areas that impact community evolution spanning numerous communities.

The new Guidebook is the first step to creating the urban form categories and helps the LAPs lay down the foundation to create a vision that focuses on the street experience. It provides the tools to capture the key elements (i.e., overlays) within the community, and policies (Chapter 3) to provide best practice on development. Click here to download a copy of the proposed Guidebook https://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Documents/Current-studies-and-ongoing-activities/guidebook/developed-areas-guidebook-proposed.pdf 

Click here to read more on the Guidebook and other related projects https://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Pages/Current-studies-and-ongoing-activities/Guidebook-for-Great-Communities.aspx