Master Planning: The Main Benefits that You Need to Know About

Master planning is a form of urban planning associated with the physical development of an urban area in the long term. In many cases, the considered time frame is ten to twenty years.

The purpose of master planning is to guide a community with the aim of helping it to grow while factoring in a number of attributes, including preservation of the local character, promoting diversity, and enhancing community livability. 

Keep reading as we dig deeper into the primary benefits of master planning. We will also outline the best master planning software options that you should consider. 

A Closer Look at the Main Benefits of Master Planning

The main advantage of master planning is that it helps to bridge a community’s short and long-term aspirations. A master plan helps to imagine the city as envisioned by residents and then craft a roadmap to achieve the objective.

For example, most residents are yearning for green spaces to help make their cities natural, fresh and healthy.

A master plan creates a path for achieving this objective. Other benefits include: 

  • Master Planning is Crucial in Attracting Investors: When you plan a city well, it is used to depict an intelligent community. The effort helps investors feel more confident and secure, ultimately making them want to invest in the city. 
  • An Excellent Way to Engage the Local Community: City planning is a process that involves bringing together city residents to understand what they want. This engagement builds a cohesive, strong, and healthy community. For example, the engagement is likely to result in greater support for projects because the community feels their needs are factored in the plan. 
  • Provides for Clear and Consistent Decision Making: As we have indicated earlier, the plans are created to help urban communities achieve long-term goals. Therefore, they make every party, including the leadership, read from the same script within the espoused period. This implies that even when the leadership of the city changes, the development goals and trends remain predictable and orderly. 

The Best Master Planning Software

Now that you know the benefits that come with good master planning, there is one more thing: urban planners have to use the right programs. Here are some of top options and why you should use them: 

  • ArchiCAD: This is a building information modeling app from Autodesk. It provides an intuitive urban design environment and open collaboration that makes it easy to include all parties. Again, it makes adjustments to building designs that you create easy, fast, and fun. The files you create with ArchiCAD are also compatible with most programs, making it easy to bring on board even more stakeholders. 
  • SketchUp: This is one of the most popular applications because of its wide applications. The app is owned by Trimble and helps urban planners promptly create urban spaces. It comes with a wide range of 3D objects that you can use to design almost every aspect of the city. 
  • 3D CityPlanner: This software deviates from most programs for urban planning that are computer-based because it operates in a browser. Most planners prefer it because it allows them to add many design parameters, from costs to geo-data, to help them come up with the best workable city plan. 

Urban planning is one of the unique areas for architects because they help to identify and address issues in society to help develop better plans. With the software options we have reviewed in this post, you can develop excellent urban plans that will make your city stand out. Remember to hone your design skills well and factor the city’s needs when selecting the preferred apps.