Urban planning is the process of charting a community, city, or region's future in the face of anticipated growth or change. Urban planners work with community members, elected officials, stakeholders, and technical experts to determine the best course of action for a community, based on an agreed-upon vision.

The fact of the built environment is that everything is planned. The question we have to ask ourselves is: who should be doing the planning?

Throughout history, cities have been planned to reflect dominant norms and industry priorities.

• During the industrial revolution, factories were built on the banks of rivers to facilitate the movement of manufactured goods.
• When the United States was being mapped, county seats were placed in the geographic center of Counties, meaning everyone in the county was "equidistant" from the seat.
• Today, developers often purchase agricultural land and convert it to commercial or residential uses.

As communities, we plan for a balance between economic development, quality of life, and more.

A comprehensive plan is a long-range document that informs the policy, project portfolio, and development of a community for a 20-year period. Comprehensive plan synthesizes consensus built by community members, elected officials, and stakeholders in the form of goals and action steps to achieve those goals. Comprehensive plans can include elements on land use, transportation, housing, utilities, recreation, environment, economic development, and more. A comprehensive plan is not a binding document. Instead, it provides recommendations to city staff, elected officials, and developers as the legal basis for ordinances. Effective comprehensive plans include an implementation element to make it easier for city staff to achieve the goals identified in the plan.