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Plans

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The City of Madison's adopted plans can be found using the interactive map or links below. 

Citywide Plans

Citywide Plans

Comprehensive Plan (2018)
The Comprehensive Plan establishes the long-term growth framework for the City, with broad policy recommendations and urban development strategies. 
Transportation

Transportation plans, including Madison in Motion and the Bus Rapid Transit study, can be found at the Department of Transportation.

Historic Preservation Plan (2020)
The City's Historic Preservation Plan was developed to celebrate and preserve the places that represent Madison’s collective histories. It provides guidance for development proposals, capital improvements, and implementation to ensure preservation is integrated into both long-range planning and current development projects. The plan recommends strategies and tools to 1) more effectively lead and integrate historic preservation into public policy, 2) utilize existing land use, zoning, and development standards to support preservation, 3) explore educational and promotion partnerships, 4) capitalize on economic development and financial incentives, 5) highlight sustainable building practices, and 6) encourage heritage tourism.
 

Area Plans

Framework Area Plan Banner
The City has established a Planning Framework to simplify Madison’s area planning and make it more equitable. Over the next decade 12 Area Plans will be developed to cover the entire city and future growth areas. The plans will focus on guiding changes to the physical aspects of our community, such as development initiated by the private sector and infrastructure improvements typically carried out by the public sector. Each Area Plan process provides an opportunity to consider older sub-area plans for retirement to reduce the number of outdated and overlapping plans. After the 12 Area Plans are established, they will be updated each decade to reflect an ever-changing city and keep Plan recommendations in sync with other City initiatives.The first two planning processes in this effort - the Northeast Area Plan and West Area Plan - are currently underway.
 

Neighborhood Plans

Neighborhood Plans

Neighborhood plans serve as a guide for actions and changes to strengthen Madison's established neighborhoods and how to best accommodate anticipated growth. Plan topics include land use, zoning, mobility, housing, community services, economic development, historic preservation, urban design, open space, health, safety, and infrastructure.
 

Special Area Plans

Special Area Plans

Special area plans focus on specific areas likely to see growth or change in the near future or have a unique functional use like downtown, a transit station area, the airport, and other employment or activity centers.

* Campus plans are not created by the City of Madison and are provided for reference.  The City approves these as part of the Campus Institutional (CI) zoning districts applicable to campus areas.
 

Neighborhood Development Plans

Neighborhood Development Plans

Neighborhood development plans address the growth and development of the City's peripheral urban expansion areas where development is expected to occur in the foreseeable future. 

Intergovernmental Agreements

Peripheral growth often occurs in the context of an intergovernmental agreement with neighboring communities. A summary map of the City's intergovernmental agreements and cooperative plans is available as a PDF and an interactive map. The text of adopted intergovernmental agreements can be found below:
 
Last Updated: 02/14/2024