In 2014, community leaders made a persuasive case in support of Memphis becoming a national laboratory for urban issues but were unable to refer to a fully formed document that embraces and articulates its ambitions, its priorities, and its best prospects for success. Memphis was at a critical point in leveraging the interest of several national foundations and organizations in its future, and therefore needed to shift from project-based efforts to moving in concert with a shared strategic framework. The goals for creating a Strategic Framework for Memphis to included:

Articulating a clear vision for the city’s future and activating a strategic agenda

Identifying undervalued opportunities and levers for change with best returns on investment

Making tough choices and setting priorities for the near and long term

Coordinating resources and investments within and between the public, nonprofit and private sectors (local and regional)

Developing realistic strategies for implementation, including implementation partners and alignment of new and existing funding and personnel resources

Creating a process for inclusive and transparent civic engagement at the local and regional scale

urbanAC worked alongside key Memphis stakeholders to inventory and assess current planning efforts, untapped opportunities and assets, and current challenges to determine the most appropriate scope and set of deliverables for creating a shared citywide vision and set of action items for coordinated investment and policy reform. The Roadmap helped to identify the near and long term land use, neighborhood, infrastructure and economic growth issues and opportunities and developed the scope of services, schedule, budget and team for a citywide Comprehensive Plan.