Vision 2050 - Planning Principles

Planning Scales

What is your Vision for 2050?

Survey 4 – Preferences and Tradeoffs

The use of appropriate planning scales is at the core of context-sensitive planning. These distinct scales provide planners, public officials and the public a better set of tools to understand and craft long-range policies, sector-wide strategies and place-specific standards.

The Vision 2050 plan is organized around three scales: Market Areas, Planning Sectors, and Place Types.

Market Areas

Market Areas describe the general character of geographical areas within the County. They inform and influence the structure of subsequent planning layers.

Planning Sectors

Planning Sectors are associated with specific long-range planning strategies that indicate whether an area should develop, redevelop or stay largely unchanged within the planning horizon.

Place Types

Place Typesdefine existing and future planning areas, including appropriate development densities and intensities. These typologies are classified as Centers, Corridors, and Neighborhoods.

Together, these three planning types create a cohesive framework for walkable and resilient places, while Market Areas and Sectors provide larger scale, strategic policy-making guidance. Typologies provide a clear visual representation of how specific places should be developed.

Planning Strategies

The following strategies are closely associated with Planning Sectors and the County’s long-term goals to preserve or change the character of specific areas:

Strategy	Description
Transform	The primary objective of the “Transform” strategy is to promote major opportunities for transformational change such as infill, redevelopment, densification or public improvements that will enhance the development pattern within targeted areas. In neighborhood settings, these strategies seek to improve walkability, strengthening the urban fabric.
Evolve	The “evolve” strategy is closely associated with incremental changes, such as small-scale infill and redevelopment and other public improvements. The key difference between “Transform” and “Evolve” actions is that the former seeks to change a particular development pattern, while the latter seeks to reinforce local community character through localized incremental action.
Grow	The “grow” strategy is applied to a limited number of greenfield areas within the County, with the intent of guiding their development through more sustainable practices and smart growth planning principles.
Maintain	The “Maintain” strategy seeks to protect and enhance existing neighborhoods, established rural areas, and the County’s natural environment. This strategy applies to most of the County’s geographic extent, where the existing natural or built character of an area is not expected to significantly change.

Need More Information?

This 10-minute video contains additional information about the proposed planning concepts and principles behind Vision 2050 and the Orange Code.