Comprehensive Plan

The Comprehensive Plan is a broad-based plan that creates a vision for a future Madison. It provides guidance for big-picture decisions about issues such as housing, jobs, and transportation. An extensive community engagement effort called Imagine Madison shaped the Plan. Engagement included over 15,000 interactions with community members.

The Generalized Future Land Use (GFLU) Map is a main component of the Comprehensive Plan. The GFLU Map includes a range of land use categories, such as residential, commercial, and industrial. It sets expectations for how we want to grow as a community over time.

The Comprehensive Plan’s recommendations are intended to:

• Create a collective vision for a future Madison.
• Establish priorities for public investment.
• Align the work of City Agencies around the issues that matter most to residents.
• Guide private development through the Generalized Future Land Use (GFLU) Map.
• Foster partnerships with other entities to address shared goals.

The GFLU Map makes recommendations for future land uses and development intensities, like building height. It guides the physical development of Madison. The future land use categories guide what types of zoning can be applied in different parts of the city. The GFLU Map is one of the most-used sections of the Comprehensive Plan because state law (Wis. Stats. Sec. 66.1001) says proposed development must be consistent with the Plan. For example, land shown for future “Medium Residential” land use could not be rezoned to allow for industrial uses. Instead, it could be rezoned to allow for a multifamily residential building. Learn more about the GFLU Map by reviewing the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

Comprehensive Plan Progress Updates

The City has been working to implement the Comprehensive Plan’s recommendations. You can read about implementation progress through the interactive components of the Plan embedded on this webpage. You can also find the Progress Update reports below:

Use the ‘Summary’ option to navigate to different sections of the Plan that you’re interested in learning about. Use the ‘Full Document’ option to look through the Plan in its entirety. Use the ‘Guided Tour’ option for other navigational tips.