Citywide Planning
Overview
Citywide Policy Planning develops planning policy to preserve and enhance San Francisco's quality of life. Citywide Planning maintains the city's General Plan which provides guidance to all city agencies and departments regarding urban design, land use, transportation, housing, open space and a variety of other issues. Citywide Planning also develops permanent controls–zoning, planning code controls and other regulations that implement the General Plan, both through community-based planning efforts and citywide initiatives. The Citywide Division acts as the urban design resource for the City, and gathers and analyzes data in support of land‐use policy. The Citywide Division proposes policy on a wide range of topics, including: housing, transportation, urban design, land use, community stabilization, and sustainability policy.
Learn more about Citywide Planning's priority projects we are currently working on.
Download a handout overview of the above priority projects (PDF).
Current Efforts
Land Use & Transportation
Housing
Perhaps no issue is more pressing than the City’s housing crisis. The Citywide Division works to improve housing affordability through a three-pronged approach of housing production, tenant protections, and housing stock preservation.
Transportation
Planning for an effective, equitable, and sustainable transportation system.
Land Use and Community Plans
These efforts seek to forge shared visions for the city’s existing and evolving neighborhoods, including large-scale development sites, to meet the needs of existing and future residents, workers, and visitors while achieving citywide goals for inclusivity, sustainability, and economic vitality.
Master Plans and Development Agreements
The Planning Department, in coordination with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, develops, reviews, and brings forward for approval master plans for major new development areas, including building form and design, land use, streets, open spaces and other public amenities.
Plans & Policies
Citywide Planning maintains the city's General Plan which provides guidance to all city agencies and departments regarding urban design, land use, transportation, housing, open space and a variety of other issues. The General Plan is the legal underpinning for land use and policy decisions and a vision for how the city will grow and evolve.
In support of the General Plan, Citywide Planning develops plans, policies and initiatives that represent the aspirations of the City to become more livable, sustainable, and equitable.
Equity and Community Development
Resilience and Sustainability
- Islais Creek/Southeast Mobility Adaptation Strategy (SMAS) (coming soon)
- Sea Level Rise Action Plan
- Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Consequences Assessment (coming soon)
- Sustainable City
Other Policy Initiatives
Core Functions
Information and Analysis Group
The Information and Analysis Group carries out the Division’s and much of the Department’s data analysis and reporting, graphic design, and mapping/GIS needs.
The City Design Group works to improve San Francisco's livability through concern for the physical qualities of the city.
Implementing Our Community Plans
The Implementation Group helps to turn the visions from recently adopted Area Plans into on-the-ground improvements, working with community members, development project sponsors, and City agencies.
Land Use & Transportation
Housing |
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Transportation |
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Land Use and Community Plans |
Better Neighborhoods Eastern Neighborhoods
Downtown Neighborhoods Other Neighborhood Studies and Plans
Master Plans and Development Agreements |
Plans & Policies