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By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

INSPIRATIONAL GUIDE AND PLANNING TOOL

City council adopts Red Deer 2050 Vision

Jun 24, 2024 | 4:20 PM

A new report, Red Deer’s 2050 Vision, has been unanimously accepted by city council as a foundation for the Integrated Planning Framework. It is designed to act as an inspirational guide and tool to help align the rest of the City’s planning documents.

The primary guiding principles of Red Deer’s vision for the future are connected, diverse, and vibrant. The priorities and direction of the vision were determined through engagement sessions with the general public, community leaders, key stakeholders, city council, city leadership, city staff, and the Indigenous community.

Engagement focused on the future of the City’s people, culture, places, prosperity, and environment as the main areas to consider.

Naturally, there were some conflicting views between those residents who take pride in Red Deer’s traditions and current makeup, and those who want to see it grow in another direction.

“We’ve done our best to find words and to find statements that we felt acknowledged both voices in that push-pull of doing new, and not losing who Red Deer is in our local traditions that we have today,” says Tricia Hercina, Manager of Community Services Business Excellence.

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City officials say in the document that overall, there was a common sentiment of wanting more. More parks and trails, cultural and recreational opportunities, industry and enterprise, growth and housing, and a greater focus on environmental sustainability for the benefit of future generations.

One notable aspect of the report is that it takes a collective impact approach to responsibility. It encourages collaboration and alignment with organizations, government agencies, businesses, non-profits, and community members to achieve a shared community vision, rather than focusing responsibility primarily on the City.

“When we are aligned and we have common vision, there’s nothing stopping us,” Hercina says. “That is the hope and the intention, that we get to those places and that we stay there with our partners, we create the spaces for those conversations, and that council and administration doesn’t feel the burden of sole ownership.”

Eventually, there will be formal processes dedicated to encouraging this collaboration but for now, the City wants to get the word out and get residents thinking about how they fit into the vision.

Councillor Vesna Higham addressed major projects currently in the works, such as the airport and hospital expansions, and a provincial highspeed rail, which may drastically change the landscape of the city once complete.

“As we are on the precipice, as a community, of all of this growth, innovation, and exciting expansion, we cannot forget that this is not all about numerical growth alone. It has to also be about quality of life, and that is what this visioning document is all about,” Higham says. “It’s about how to maintain quality of life while we are chasing, or attracting, or retaining, developing this growth in all of these various areas that have been touched on.”

Specific target goals and corresponding tracking methods will be determined moving forward.

The report’s predecessor, Vision 2020, was crafted in 1991 and has expired. Now that the 2050 vision has been approved, there will be a public release of the documentation with engagement elements available soon.

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