Urban Planning for the City of Phoenix - Case Study Example

General Plan for the City of Phoenix A general plan is essential and necessary for growth and development of various towns and cities across the United States of America. These plans provide relevant visions and policies that aim at ensuring the growth of towns and cities. As a result, various local council authorities formulate and adopt general plans to facilitate the faster growth of their respective cities. The city of Phoenix is the perfect example of a town with an excellent and elaborative general plan. The city authorities developed a relevant and purposeful general plan that seeks to improve the economic growth and development the town. Additionally, the general plan seeks to enhance service delivery to the current residents of the city. The city has a general plan that provides an accurate guideline for ensuring economic development in the city. The authorities plan to improve the workforce, create jobs, maintain local airports, and improve the downtown area. Early this year, the planning and development department of the city of Phoenix developed and updated an elaborative and achievable general plan. The final plan was hugely based on the community suggestion and feedback concerning various economic problems in the city. As a result, the planning commission supported and approved the general plan on January 13, 2015. The city plans to improve on the type of labor force available. According to the article Plan PHX. 2015 General Plan, the economic growth and development sterns from skilled, competent, and qualified workforce in the city (94). Consequently, the expansion and building of more schools and training centers is the foundation for the city’s economic growth. Furthermore, the authorities plan to adequately fund and provide necessary resources in these training facilities. It leads to increase in the number of individuals with recognized credentials and certificates. Such an influx of professionals is a sign of economic growth and development. Additionally, the authorities plan to maintain and expand the airports available in the city since it is vital to economic growth and movement of people. The airports in the city are essential and necessary for bringing various businessmen and investors in the city. Furthermore, these airports generate massive revenue for the authorities. The revenues collected from businesses within the airport premises are essential in improving local infrastructure and financial strength of the city. Besides, the presence of businessmen and investors in Phoenix city is a positive and encouraging sign of economic and business growth in the area. Consequently, the authorities plan to improve and highly maintain the three municipal airports in the city. They also plan to develop the airport into a safe and well-planned system that ensures the safety of visitors and business investors. According to the article Plan PHX. 2015 General Plan, it not only ensures the safety of businessmen, but also of goods and services imported into the city (95). These goods and services ensure the growth of the economy through trading activities. Moreover, the authorities plan to improve tourism activities in the city through developing more facilities. For a long time, tourism has been a major contributor to the economic growth and revenue for the city. The numerous tourists that visit the city spend large sums of money in various places and hotels. Thus, the authorities aim at improving the number of tourists’ areas within the city of Phoenix. In addition, they also plan to adopt and promote design guidelines that support and promote tourism in the city. Through these practices, the authorities believe the city of Phoenix will continue to attract more tourists and remain among the leading tourist destination in the United States of America. Through increased number of visitors and tourism activities, the government is assured of increased economic growth of the town. In addition, the authorities plan to cut on expenses spent on energy. Both the city council and residents spend much money on energy as they consume a lot of energy on a daily basis. It reduces their purchasing power since a lot of money is spent on energy. The leaders have noticed this, and plan to promote sustainable change in consumption of energy in the city. The city council plans to adopt a public-private partnership that is beneficial to both parties concerning the use of energy. The agreement seeks to ensure supply of cleaner and affordable energy to the residents. Further, the agreement will also reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Through these new plans, the local are bound to save money and improve their purchasing power. As a result, the higher the purchasing power, the higher the economic growth of any city or state around the world. Besides, the authorities plan to improve the living conditions and housing in the downtown Phoenix area (Plan PHX. 2015 General Plan 95) The area has poor housing structure that are unsustainable to the residents. Due to this, the authorities plan to improve the living environment and housing system of this area. The city council plans to work with numerous developers to ensure increased houses and residential areas in this part of the town. The developers will also make certain that the increased number of houses are standard and promote the development of urban neighborhoods. The improved housing and standard of living provides economic growth since residents cease to depend on government for basic needs such as housing. Equally important, the local leaders plan to create more job opportunities in the city (Plan PHX. 2015 General Plan 87). The city authorities acknowledge that it is vital to support the employment sector of the town. The government plans to establish employment centers across the city and facilitate job creation in high-wage industry sectors. Moreover, the Council plans to develop a viable financial system that will assist various industries with incentives. Such incentives serve to spur growth of the industrial sector, which automatically translates to increased job opportunities. Through an active and functional job market, the residents are assured of increased disposable income. It enables citizens to pay their taxes fully and improve their living standards. A city with such residents is assured of economic growth and development. Evidently, the city council of Phoenix is development-oriented. It has devised numerous plans to facilitate the economic development and improved living standards of the residents. These plans aim at improving, maintaining and expanding the existing municipal airports to attract more business investors and tourists. Furthermore, the government plans to create jobs and improve the workforce available in the city. These plans will ensure availability and collections of more revenue from the residents through taxes. The taxes are important in improving and developing the city. Consequently, the town is assured of economic growth and development. Nonetheless, the city council must implement and strictly follow the provisions of their general plan for them to realize their objectives in transforming the city. Any deviation from the set plan leads to failure. Works Cited Plan PHX. 2015 General Plan. N.p., 19 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. Read More