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The City Center Master Plan, last updated in 1991, lays the foundation for planning and economic development initiatives and incentives by the public sector to encourage private sector development and urban vitality in the city core. It provides a vision for the City Center and nearby neighborhoods, and will guide the growth and development of an expanded City Center for the next decade.
Efforts to update the Master Plan involved four major efforts:
- In 2002, the City of Birmingham hired the Washington D.C.-based
Urban Land Institute (ULI), a non-profit organization made up of
professionals related to the real estate development field. ULI sent
a panel of experts to the city in May 2002 to gain a better understanding
of the potential market for development. Then, in November 2002,
ULI issued a series of preliminary recommendations for planning and
economic development policy.
The ULI report is available on the Operation New Birmingham website, www.yourcitycenter.com under "Master Plan;" or the City of Birmingham website, www.informationbirmingham.com, under Planning, Engineering and Permits.
- In Fall 2002, the City of Birmingham 's Office of Planning, Engineering and Permits held a series of meetings in neighborhoods comprising the City Center to present the ULI study results, and to gather information on the types of business development, public projects and public services that people most wanted to see in the City Center .
- From November 2002 to January 2003, the City of Birmingham partnered with Auburn Center for Architecture and Urban Studies and Region 2020 to hold a series of stakeholder meetings in the four City Center quadrants. The purpose was to gather individuals from City Center stakeholders to obtain input on what they wanted the City Center to look like.
- In October 2003, the City of Birmingham hired UDA to complete work on the plan. For more details on what residents, business owners and others say they want for the future of downtown, and for continually updates on UDA's work, go to the Operation New Birmingham website: www.yourcitycenter.com, and click on "Master Plan."
UDA has 85 projects underway in 30 cities in 20 states and two foreign countries. The firm describes itself on its website as architects who design cities, towns and neighborhoods, with a goal of creating "beautiful places with lasting value for the communities they serve."
UDA considers design a participatory process that "brings together citizens, economists, engineers, architects, developers, policymakers, government officials, and builders to construct humane and appropriate visions for the future."
The UDA website is www.urbandesignassociates.com.
