FAQs

A Master Plan is a whole city plan based on community inputs and priorities. It can create a blueprint for the physical development of the city through specific actions, prioritized in partnership with the Newark community.

The State of New Jersey has a statutory requirement for all municipalities to update their citywide Master Plans every decade. The 2012 Plan, Our City Our Future, will expire in September of 2022. Newark360 is the process to update and expand on that work, including new priorities for the next decade.

"Newark360" was coined by the project team at the beginning of the Master Plan process to describe the way the Plan will encompass a 360-degree view of the City of Newark and its future. 

As a Master Plan, Newark360 is concerned with the entire physical environment of the City, and will guide regulations to build the Newark we collectively envision. The Plan will be organized around 8 Plan Elements which will together make up the City's underlying Land Use. Those Plan Elements are:

• Transportation and Circulation
• Utilities and Critical Infrastructure 
• Urban Design Standards 
• Parks and Open Space 
• Sustainability and the Environment
• Historic Preservation and Cultural Assets
• Housing
• Economic Development

Actions will be directly related to their specific Planning Elements; for instance, under Transportation and Circulation, Newark360 might propose a targeted series of bike lanes, or a more direct train connection to the Newark International Airport. Under Historic Preservation and Cultural Assets, proposed actions might include placemaking in important heritage zones. Something like managing Newark’s persistent flooding may have actions in both Utilities and Critical Infrastructure, and also Sustainability and the Environment.  

Yes! As a Master Plan, Newark360 will not reinvent all the important neighborhood-scale planning work that Newarkers have created in the past decade – instead, think of this as a citywide umbrella of priorities that those plans can fit underneath. Newark360 will build on existing work.

Our First Community Meeting on December 9th will be livestreamed to our project Facebook & YouTube pages. Tune in to hear more about the process and answer some polling questions in real time. Later this winter we’ll hold some targeted stakeholder groups, and in Spring 2022 we’re gearing up for a series of block parties! In the meantime you can share what's important to you about your city and tell us a bit more about your favorite places in your neighborhood at our Participate page.