The City of Calgary uses two models to prepare Area Structure Plans: City-Funded ASPs and Developer-Funded ASPs.

For the North Central ASP, participating developers are funding the City staff resources required to prepare the plan, rather than those costs being paid by taxpayers. The ASP remains a City-led, statutory planning document and must be reviewed and approved by City Council.

Developers submit proposals for new ASP work, which are reviewed by a City selection committee alongside City-funded projects. If selected, developer funding provides additional capacity that can allow planning work to be completed within shorter timelines. All landowners within the North Central ASP area—whether or not they are contributing funding—are treated equally as interest holders throughout the planning and engagement process.

For every ASP project, there is a wide range of expert studies to determine things like natural water drainage patterns, wetlands, plant species and wildlife habitats in the project area. These studies will list the requirements for environmental protections on these features, which will then be adopted as policies within the ASP. These studies will also provide recommendations for additional ways to preserve or enhance natural features that can be adopted through the policies and designs included with the ASP. 

The plan will include policies that allow different types of homes, including affordable options, following Calgary’s Housing Strategy.

The ASP plan will include policies to reduce emissions and prepare for climate risks, based on local climate studies.

An Area Structure Plan (ASP) helps people know what to expect in the future and gives them a chance to help shape the future of their community. It also plans for things like required infrastructure, parks, fire stations, schools, and public transit.

Planning how people move in and around the North Central area is a key component of the ASP. Mobility planning considers all modes of travel, including driving, transit, walking, and cycling, as well as connections to surrounding communities and regional corridors.

Planning for roads, pathways, and transit involves many mobility specialists working together. Once a land use concept is prepared, engineers, planners and landowners work together to prepare a Global Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA), which ensures transportation networks are designed to support the community as it grows—while also considering the impacts to and from surrounding communities. The results of the traffic planning and public feedback are reflected in the final draft of the ASP. Once the major street network is identified, intended mobility networks (pathways, transit, cycling) are shown within the ASP document as well.

Since this Plan is part of a Developer-Funded ASP model, the entire cost of preparing this Plan is covered by developers.

ASPs provide a coordinated, long-term approach to infrastructure planning. Rather than planning piece by piece, the ASP looks at an entire area together to plan roads, water, wastewater, stormwater, parks, schools, emergency services and more in an integrated way. Based on the findings of expert studies carried out throughout the planning process, development is carefully planned to occur in stages and carried out based on when infrastructure can be delivered. This helps to ensure services are available when needed and future connections are protected. The City also works with neighbouring municipalities and regional partners to align major roads, servicing and mobility networks beyond City boundaries to support efficient, thoughtful growth.

In the process of ASP development, the project team works with The City’s archaeologist, park planners, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, local historians and residents to identify the history and any meaningful details of the area. Together, these inputs give the project team an understanding of the key history and features, and, with this understanding, an idea of the identity of the land. The ASP will include policies to preserve and enhance this identity through place-making, place-keeping, wayfinding, and other community design approaches.