About the draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan and how it works

    Why do you do a Strategic Plan?

    Planning for Adelaide’s future is essential to sustainably growing our city while making sure we keep and build upon the things people already love about Adelaide.

    What is the City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan?

    The City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan is Adelaide City Council’s vision for the future of the City and our blueprint for the next four years.

    It sets out our vision for the City – Adelaide is a smart, green, liveable, boutique city full of rich experiences.

    Our vision will be reached by achieving our primary goal, themes, objectives and actions. Our principles will ensure we grow while maintaining and enhancing the many things you already love about Adelaide.

    Our four themes outline areas of attention. Each theme has measurable objectives and deliverable actions for the City. These will be achieved by working closely with our partners and community over the next four years.


    What happened to the Adelaide 2040 Plan?

    The final development of the Adelaide 2040 Plan will be undertaken later in 2016.

    This will enable Council to immediately focus on the City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan and setting budget priorities for 2016-17 through to 2019-20. We will then focus on the Adelaide 2040 Plan.

    Care has been taken to ensure a clear alignment between the City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan and a future Adelaide 2040 Plan. The vision and objectives have been developed with 4 year and 25 year time horizons in mind. 

    How did you come up with the draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan?

    An exciting feature of the draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan’s development was the extensive approach to involving the community to be a part of shaping our city’s future.

    Picture Adelaide 2040 gathered more than 1,800 contributions from over 2,000 participants to help us understand what people love about their city, their hopes and ideas, the challenges we face and opportunities for the future.

    The draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan is a very real reflection of what you told us you wanted during Picture Adelaide 2040 as well as what Council heard from the many people we spoke to during last year’s election.

    It is based on extensive research by us and leading international organisations such as KPMG, as well as discussions with our many partners in business and State Government.

    It also draws upon many other important plans from the State Government and others, such as The National Urban Policy, South Australia’s Strategic Plan and Priorities, the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide, Integrated Transport and Land Use Plan and the Integrated Design Strategy (a.k.a. 5000+).

About the Vision

    How will the Vision for the City be achieved?

    The 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan sets out our vision for the City – Adelaide is a smart, green, liveable, boutique city full of rich experiences.

    Our vision will be reached by achieving our primary goal, themes, objectives and actions. Our principles will ensure we grow while maintaining and enhancing the many things you already love about Adelaide.

    Our four themes outline areas of attention. Each theme has measurable objectives and deliverable actions for the City. These will be achieved by working closely with our partners and community over the next four years.

About the Principles

    What are the Principles for?

    The City’s growth must be sustainably managed. Picture Adelaide 2040 told us there is so much everyone already loves about Adelaide that must be cherished.

    The principles outlined in the 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan will help ensure we achieve our vision and remain uniquely ‘Adelaide’.

    The principles highlight things we must take into account when we implement our plans for the City.

    What environmental sustainability principles underpin all this growth?

    In regards to long term environmental sustainability, one of the City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan’s principles says our city will be Resilient to a changing climate and able to sustain quality experiences, both now and for future generations.

    This provides a focus on long term environmental outcomes and goes hand in hand with our Green theme which sets some targets for a sustainable future.

About Growth and the Primary Goal

    What is the Primary Goal?

    Our Picture Adelaide 2040 community engagement made it very clear that our city must grow if we want to thrive.

    As the global economy dramatically shifts, our climate changes and attitudes towards housing and the relationship between where we live and where we work evolve, more and more people are being attracted to live in our city centre near to where they work.

    Accordingly, our primary goal is to Strengthen the City economy by growing the number of people living, working, playing, visiting and studying in the City every day.

    How will you accommodate all this growth?

    The City has a surprising capacity to be able to grow without compromising its essential character. Some areas of the City will experience higher levels of growth and taller apartment towers. These will be mostly located in the western portion of the CBD area.

    Many areas of the City and most of North Adelaide will have low levels of growth to maintain the residential character in these areas.

About the Themes, Objectives, Actions and how it will get done

    What are the Themes?

    Council has developed four themes that we consider critical to the realisation of our vision: 

    Smart – A world smart city with a globally connected and opportunity rich economy

    Green – One of the world’s first carbon neutral cities and an international leader in environmental change

    Liveable – A diverse and welcoming capital city with an enviable lifestyle and strong community

    Creative – A city of authentic and internationally renowned experiences

    Each theme includes measureable objectives for the City and deliverable actions for the next four years.

    What are the measurable Objectives and how did they come about?

    The objectives are about the whole City, not just what Council can do.

    The objectives are based on current patterns of growth and activity taking into account good and reliable sources of data.

    What about some important parts of the City like the Adelaide Central Market, the Park Lands and our shopping areas?

    The draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan sets out the broad approach to implementing changes in key areas of the City as well as many specific deliverable actions.

    The City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan does not provide an exhaustive list of actions in relation to these areas. It is an overarching document that provides direction, with further detail set out in other strategies like Our Market District, the Retail Strategy and the upcoming Park Lands Management Strategy

    How will the Strategic Plan be delivered?

    Financial sustainability is critical to achieving this Plan. There are four key areas that must be managed carefully – revenue, costs, debt and assets.

    Council’s revenue growth is directly linked to the prosperity of the City as well as our strong partnerships and we will always seek ways to keep rates comparatively low.

    To deliver its Strategic Plan, Council will work together with residents, businesses and the wider community.

    We will pursue all opportunities to seek to win our share of funding support for city projects and initiatives from the Federal and State Governments.

    The Strategic Plan will be delivered through Council’s annual integrated business plans. Each year, projects and activities will be detailed in these plans and these are also the subject of consultation.

    How will you measure progress?

    A city scorecard will be developed and updated every year. This will enable us to see how we’re tracking against our goals and will be made available online.

About Transport

    Why is transport not a ‘Theme’ on its own?

    Transport is vitally important to the City and cuts across all of the themes – it influences the economy, our lifestyle, the experience of the City and the environment.

    Council already has a transport strategy called Smart Move which aligns directly with the draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan and sets out the longer term approach to people movement into, out off and around the City.

About the Current Consultation

    Why is the public being consulted at this stage?

    Our community told us through Picture Adelaide 2040 that they want growth while keeping the things they already love about the City. We now want to know if our community believes the draft City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan gets that balance right. Is it the right type of growth? Is it ambitious enough?

    We also want to know if our community believes the actions detailed in the draft Strategic Plan are the right actions to deliver our vision for the future of Adelaide. Is anything critical missing? Are there too many?

    Additionally, we want to explore with the community and partners the best ways we can work together to deliver the Plan and our objectives and actions.

    How long is the consultation open for?

    Consultation opens Tuesday, 01 March and closes 5 pm, Monday, 04 April, 2016.

    When will the final City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan be available?

    The final City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan is scheduled to be adopted by Council in May 2016.

    This will be in time to help finalise the 2016-17 Integrated Business Plan.

    How do I provide my feedback?

    You can play a role in shaping the future of the city of Adelaide in the following ways:

    Feedback and Submission Forms - These are available online, at our Customer Service Centre on 25 Pirie Street, and at our libraries and community centres.

    Written Submissions- All written feedback must be received by 5:00 pm on Monday 4 April 2016 and should be addressed to: 

    Community Consultation City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan
    GPO Box 2252,
    Adelaide SA 5001

    Speak to Your Submission  - You can speak to your submission at a special Council meeting to be held at the Adelaide Town Hall, 128 King William Street at 5:30 pm, Thursday 14 April 2016.  To register click here to complete the relevant details, including your name and residential address.

    Alternatively comments can be emailed to yoursay@adelaidecitycouncil.com.

    What happens to my feedback?

    Your feedback and submissions will be presented to Council for consideration during the development of the final City of Adelaide 2016 - 2020 Strategic Plan and will be included in a report to Council which will be publicly available.

    How do I know my feedback has been received?

    All feedback forms, submissions or correspondence will be acknowledged either by email or in writing so that you know your comments/feedback has been received.