Master Plan - New Orleans City Park

Master Plan

City Park Plan Overview

The previous City Park Master Plan (City Park 2018) was approved in March 2005 and has guided the improvements of the Park over the last decade and a half. The prior plan largely focused on improvements to the south side of the Park.

Now, City Park Conservancy is embarking on a plan that will foster an innovative and thoughtful long-term proposal for City Park grounded in serving the greater good, addressing community needs, preserving historical and cultural context, enhancing environmental resiliency, and fostering a welcoming sense of place.

In February 2023, CPC published a Request for Proposal for master planning, which garnered submissions from firms around the world. After conducting in-person interviews with the top firms, CPC and City Park Improvement Association (CPIA) boards voted unanimously in the hiring of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. (MVVA). MVVA is one of the most-highly regarded landscape-architecture firms in the world, having rejuvenated, designed, and built hundreds of public spaces in the United States and abroad since its founding in 1982.

MVVA is leading CPC’s planning process, which will steward the Park throughout the next century. MVVA will rely on its own design experts, with the help of local consultants and community members to develop a community centered City Park Plan that everyone can be proud of.

In August 2024, through a public RFP process, Concordia was selected to join the City Park Planning team as the lead Community Engagement consultant to help strengthen a continued community engagement process. Concordia is a New Orleans based firm with over 40 years of experience in architecture, planning, and community engagement.

This plan is made possible through a lead gift from the Greg Keller Foundation.

City Park Plan Structure:

The framework for public engagement and planning over the next year will be iterative and built on community feedback, research, and planning work completed since the current planning process began in July 2023. The collaborative work to date has revealed two layers of planning that structure the City Park Master Plan design process: Foundational Planning and Place-Making Planning.

The following months of engagement and planning intends to build on these two layers of planning, grounded in a process-based metaphor that all New Orleans residents know and love —Making Gumbo:

  • Making Groceries: Continue to bring unheard voices (including youth and marginalized communities) up to speed, inviting them to review and add to the input already received — the “list of ingredients and seasoning” that will inform the City Park Plan
  • Stirring the Roux: Together, using previous community input, review and confirm the base created from shared intentions that will hold the City Park planning process together. This is Foundational Planning.
  • Prepping the Ingredients: With the base made, imagine ways to preserve and enhance spaces that people are passionate about, identifying potential opportunities that will diversify visitor experiences. This is Place-Making Planning.
  • Mixing the Gumbo: Add the ingredients in, while bringing Foundational and Place-Making Planning concepts together to visualize how new opportunities can be realized within the City Park Plan.
  • Taste-Testing the Gumbo: Review the proposed City Park Plan to confirm it represents everyone’s interests and ensures the best outcome for City Park’s future. Further feedback will be incorporated in the following phases of design.

Visit the Community Input page to learn more about the engagement process so far and how you can participate!

A truly comprehensive plan is backed by the community and belongs to the community. City Park Conservancy encourages individuals to sign up today to receive upcoming information regarding engagement and input opportunities.

SIGN UP NOW

The framework for public engagement and planning over the next year will be iterative and built on community feedback, research, and planning work completed since the current planning process began in July 2023.

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Community Input

CPC wants to hear your vision for the future of City Park. Public engagement is a key component to the planning process and you can stay up to date on input opportunities here.

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Ideas Youth Committee

CPC seeks the input and voices of our youth community (15-25 age group) to inform its planning process. Submit you school or 501(c)3 youth organization to participate by October 11, 2024.

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Community Fellows

CPC seeks residents who represent the broad spectrum of New Orleanians to act as ambassadors for the Park’s planning process. Submit for this paid opportunity by October 18, 2024.

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Frequently Asked Questions

We want you to be informed. Stay engaged with the process, and explore the most-commonly asked questions, here.

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Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc.

MVVA believes in the rejuvenating power of landscape. They work at all scales, from small gardens to public parks and regional master plans.

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“We were most motivated by how well the Park is used. From its sheer scale and breadth of community programs to the range of landscapes and habitats it incorporates, City Park is visibly alive and loved by the city of New Orleans. We consider it a once in a lifetime opportunity to help such a beloved public asset reach its full potential.”
MVVA
"We are equally committed to producing an equitable roadmap for City Park, which means working with diverse organizations who can expand our understanding of the many barriers to democratic community development and inclusive public space."
MVVA
“As park planners, we love to work with institutions at a crossroads. The creation of the City Park Conservancy is an extraordinary moment that has paved the way for crucial investments in the financial and ecological health of the Park as well as program expansions that will reinvent its place in the region.“
MVVA
“When we assemble teams, we look for collaborators with perspectives that can expand the reach and strength of our work. Our subconsultants include both local experts with in-depth knowledge of the region and long-time project partners from nationwide organizations."
MVVA
"We were inspired by the historic and cultural value of the Park as a piece of the city. We were particularly excited by the Conservancy’s attention to the landscape as a 'memory keeper' that has nurtured the daily lives of New Orleans families for nearly 150 years. Adapting the Park to new recreational needs and preserving its most-memorable features, all while improving its ecology and approach to water management, are challenges we relish as landscape architects.”
MVVA
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