NEW HAVEN, CT — New Haven's 10-year city plan, Vision 2034, has won a national award from the American Planning Association, Mayor Justin Elicker and Laura Brown, the city's plan director, announced Thursday, Oct. 29.
The plan took the association's Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan for 2026. The award goes to one comprehensive plan that the APA judges to move the science and art of planning forward, and it is named for Daniel Burnham, whom the association calls America's most famous planner.
In its announcement, the APA described New Haven as a "thriving mid-size city and cultural hub" and held up Vision 2034 as a model of equitable planning and inclusive growth, and of coastal resilience and community engagement, Patch reported. Samantha Castro, who chairs the APA's 2026 National Planning Awards, said the plan "puts residents at the center of planning by recognizing community members as partners and experts."
What the Plan Covers
Connecticut requires each city and town to adopt a new comprehensive plan every 10 years. Vision 2034 is New Haven's official Plan of Conservation and Development, and it will guide the city's planning and land-use decisions over the next decade on housing, transportation, economic development, climate resiliency and more.
The plan's name looks ahead to 2034, when New Haven will mark 250 years as an incorporated city. The Board of Alders and the City Plan Commission adopted it in October 2025.
Thousands of Residents Took Part
Brown led the work with Esther Rose-Wilen, the city's assistant director of comprehensive planning. Brown said the honor is shared by "the thousands of New Haven residents and stakeholders who participated in the planning process."
Rose-Wilen said the process "brought people together across neighborhoods and generations." The plan already won a Social Equity and Inclusion award from the APA's Connecticut chapter in May 2026.