Role of Nonprofits in urban planning

Although each level of government builds upon their own unique set of powers and abilities to help communities grow, nonprofits are able to meaningfully streamline local services to serve specific communities that may get lost in the process of urban planning. A significant quote from my Urban Policy class is that “not all governing is done by government”. When we think of creating an impact through policy development, it’s so easy to turn to the government right away to be that sole driver of change.

However, we often hear the most front line, active work of local change is led by non profit organizations. Nonprofits have a unique role to develop multi sector partnerships in launching community development projects. They have the ability to gain information through other service providers of the needs of diverse communities and help bring awareness of the realities of urban issues, showing that there isn’t just one way to tackle an issue, there are a number of key considerations in the process.

Due to limited resources, time and rigorous demands, local governments are found constrained to develop meaningful public engagements, and measurements to see the impact of their investments. Many nonprofit organizations such as the United Way Greater Toronto are able to be key supporters of local government in developing smarter cities. Their level of expertise and community engagement work is able to bridge the gap of knowledge within government of the needs of residents in the city that are often overlooked in the process of urban development. They help bring together different sectors that each have their own different and unique set of powers, mindsets and skills to make more informed decisions and improve the lives of residents.