Indianapolis was built on a legacy of visionary planning. From the original Mile Square plan on which the city was founded, to the Parks and Boulevards system plan of George Kessler, to the Amateur Sports Capital of the World strategy that culminated in Indianapolis hosting the 2012 Super Bowl, Indy has always been crafted by intent. Plan 2020 is the next chapter in this story.

Plan 2020, a partnership led by the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee and the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development, established a framework for an unprecedented degree of coordination and collaboration between public, private and philanthropic organizations in order to realize the community’s collective vision for the future. An underlying purpose of Plan 2020 was and is to stitch as many existing plans, ideas and initiatives together into a broader, cohesive storyline.

Plan 2020 acknowledges city government as a critical player in shaping the future of Marion County, but it further acknowledges that Marion County’s full planning capacity reaches well beyond city government. Plan 2020 aims to leverage the full capacity of Marion County’s diverse array of residents, leaders, institutions, organizations, enterprises and movements by placing the stable, long-term values-driven vision outside of city government and allowing the vision to inspire updates to the city’s technical guidance documents.

Plan 2020 defines a new approach to planning in Indianapolis, meshing community vision, values, and strategy with an unprecedented, coordinated update to core city government plans. The vision, values and strategy components of the process comprise Plan 2020’s Bicentennial Plan for Indianapolis.

Key accomplishments of Plan 2020 to date include:
  • The Bicentennial Agenda, the vision and values element of Plan 2020;
  • The Bicentennial Plan, the action steps nearly three dozen partners committed to complete by the end of 2020;
  • IndyVitals, the collective-impact data portal measuring the health and sustainability of Indy neighborhood areas

Winner, 2017 National Planning Achievement Award Silver, Best Practice
American Planning Association

Winner, 2017 Exemplary Systems in Government Award, Enterprise System
Urban and Regional Information Systems Association

Finalist, 2017 Mira Awards, Innovations of the Year
TechPoint