imagineCALGARY
imagineCALGARY is Calgary’s long-range urban sustainability plan. Created in 2006, the Plan represents the voice of 18,000 Calgarians. Together, we created a shared vision for our city and a detailed plan to get there. Through a focus on goals and targets in five interrelated systems, the imagineCALGARY Plan puts all Calgarians on a shared path towards urban sustainability.
The Plan provides a foundation that Calgarians continue to build on today. Through actions, stories, and supporting our communities, we continue our contributions to make Calgary into the kind of city you never want to leave.
The Vision – Calgary: a great place to make a living, a great place to make a life.
For thousands of years, people have met at the confluence of two vital rivers to imagine and realize their futures. Together, we have built a city of energy, born of a powerful convergence of people, ideas and place. Together, we continue to imagine a Calgary and a community where:
We are each connected to one another. Our diverse skills and heritage interweave to create a resilient communal fabric, while our collective spirit generates opportunity, prosperity and choice for all of us.
We are each connected to our places. We treasure and protect our natural environment. Magnificent mountain vistas and boundless prairie skies inspire each of us to build spaces worthy of our surroundings.
We are each connected to our communities. Whether social, cultural or physical, these communities are mixed, safe and just. They welcome meaningful participation from everyone, and people move freely between them.
We are each connected beyond our boundaries. We understand our impact upon and responsibility to others. Our talent and caring, combined with a truly Canadian sense of citizenship, make positive change across Alberta, throughout Canada and around the world.
We can make it happen!
Calgary: a great place to make a living, a great place to make a life.
imagineCALGARY history
The City of Calgary launched the imagineCALGARY initiative in 2005. More than 18,000 Calgarians added their voice to imagineCALGARY, to produce a long-range urban sustainability plan for the community. imagineCALGARY represented the largest visioning process of its kind anywhere in the world at the time. The City provided project staff and resources to support more than 150 partners who were responsible for developing the plan.
How was the imagineCALGARY Plan developed?
imagineCALGARY engaged the community in a visioning process that focused on the things that matter most for the future of our city. Things like what makes this city great and how those pieces fit together. People, buildings, parks, commerce, roads, businesses, skills, community relationships, government structures, incomes, plants and animals, history, churches, schools and countless other elements that make up our city were all discussed. A core group of partners analyzed the information and developed each goal and target together.
The imagineCALGARY Partnership
For the first 10 years, an imagineCALGARY Partnership existed to help guide and implement actions. Today, partnership lives on as a core component of sustainability work in Calgary. The Plan provides a useful reference point for individuals, groups and organizations to guide their work in aligning with our shared vision.
imagineCALGARY at 10 years
In 2016, The City of Calgary and community partners marked the 10 year anniversary of imagineCALGARY. A celebration event was held where partners gathered to reflect on the 10 years of progress. In addition, community partners worked with The City to co-develop 10 stories that reflect progress towards the goals and vision of imagineCALGARY.
- Art in the city
- Edible city
- Local economy
- Next generation web story
- Poverty reduction
- Renewable energy
- Resilient city
- Rising in the east
- Spin city
- Three things
The Plan at Work
Every Calgarian can help achieve our shared vision. While the Plan strives to coordinate and align Calgarians’ interests, passions and actions in order to make progress towards the goals, anyone can contribute by focusing on the pieces they want to work on. The imagineCALGARY Plan identifies five inter-related systems that are critical to urban sustainability in the 21st century. They are:
- Built Environment
- Economic
- Governance
- Natural Environment
- Social
At The City, the imagineCALGARY Plan has influenced the development of many long-term plans and policies, including:
- Municipal Development Plan (2008)
- Calgary Transportation Plan (2009)
- Calgary EATS! Food Assessment and Action Plan (2012) (with community)
- Calgary Fire’s 10 year sustainability plan (2011)
- Calgary’s Waste and Recycling strategies
- Calgary’s Water Efficiency Plan – 30 by 30