City of Mesa Revolutionizes Urban Planning Projects with ArcGIS

The planning division of the City of Mesa, Arizona, serves the third-largest municipality in the state. Planners within the division have taken significant steps to integrate a geographic approach into urban planning processes through ArcGIS Online. These efforts have focused on three key initiatives: enhancing internal and public communication about active development sites, fostering much-needed transit-oriented development, and improving stakeholder engagement in city planning. By leveraging technologies such as ArcGIS Experience Builder, ArcGIS Urban, and ArcGIS CityEngine, Mesa’s planners are modernizing their approach to internal operations and community outreach. 

One of the city’s most notable and widely used applications on the city’s website is the interactive Active Development Sites map. This public-facing application, generated with ArcGIS Experience Builder, was designed to provide easy access to information about developments within Mesa. The recently updated application allows residents, developers, and the city’s administration to stay informed about projects. These projects are sorted by status: pending planning, approved planning, ongoing review of building or construction plans, permits issued, and construction completed. For each project, the user can choose to view it in 3D, which opens an instance of ArcGIS Urban to view the project in greater detail as well as the context of the surrounding community. For stakeholders in one of the fastest-growing cities in the Southwest, this is crucial, authoritative information.

Since its deployment, the Active Development Sites map has garnered positive feedback from the public and the development community. It has also been well-received by internal stakeholders—transportation department staff use it to track roadwork permits and infrastructure improvements, and city staff and officials use it to monitor development projects.

“By providing the city’s residents, applicants, and city officials with current project information on the Active Development Sites map, we offer an opportunity to follow any project status,” said Mary Kopaskie-Brown, planning director at City of Mesa. “This improves our communication with stakeholders and keeps them informed as we continue to build a collaborative and open process in Mesa.”

The planning division is also leading a major initiative to develop the MesaCONNECTED Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Plan, which is being funded in part by a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant. This plan focuses on land-use planning along a five-mile streetcar route that will extend into Mesa, connect with the city’s existing light-rail system, and enhance regional connectivity.

The plan aims to promote compact mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly environments, particularly around the 11 planned transit stations. Mesa planners are using both ArcGIS Urban and ArcGIS CityEngine to facilitate meaningful community engagement, cross-sector collaboration, and informed decision-making.

The analytical and visualization capabilities of ArcGIS Urban have been instrumental in enabling planners to explore various TOD Plan development scenarios, assess associated impacts, and ensure alignment with the city’s long-term goals. Although in the early stages, Mesa staff are effectively leveraging the interoperability of ArcGIS Urban and ArcGIS CityEngine.

ArcGIS CityEngine is being used to develop virtual 3D models that will illustrate the recommended zoning and design strategies of the MesaCONNECTED TOD Plan. The models will eventually be integrated into ArcGIS Urban and made publicly accessible through ArcGIS Online. The models will serve as a central repository for information related to the plan and its future implementation.

“ArcGIS Urban and ArcGIS CityEngine allow us to transform abstract design and planning ideas into a graphic format that is engaging and easily understood,” explained Rachel Nettles, assistant planning director at City of Mesa. “We are excited that these tools help us bring projects to life so [that] they resonate with our community.” 

The third and final initiative focuses on public engagement in Mesa’s 2050 General Plan update, a process that outlines the city’s strategies for future growth and development. City staff knew they needed new ways to involve the community. They worked with consultant Logan Simpson and the Resilient Visions Collaboratory (RV CoLab) in the Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center at Arizona State University (ASU). This partnership led to the first immersive event experience of its kind for city planning. This effort used Unreal Engine and leveraged content developed in ArcGIS Urban, SketchUp, and CityEngine.

The event included over 350 high school students from across the city to engage with proposed future land-use designations (e.g., place types) in a 3,200-square-foot, 300-degree cylindrical, interactive mixed-reality installation. This space enabled entire groups to fully immerse themselves in the urban environments imagined within the General Plan draft. Survey feedback from participating students confirmed that providing an immersive, interactive experience of the changes described in the plan was successful: It bridged the gap between complex planning documents and people’s understanding of their city's future vision.

The stakeholder engagement initiative was recognized with two prestigious awards: the American Planning Association (APA) Arizona Chapter’s Best Planning Excellence Award for the initiative’s innovative approach, and the ASU President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness. The collaborative effort brought new ideas and technical expertise to the project, ensuring that the final product was both user-friendly and impactful.

“This was an amazing use of technology,” said Mesa mayor John Giles. “When you hand a high school student some two-dimensional papers and say, ‘Hey, will you help us plan the city?,’ you can imagine the reaction you are going to get to that. Everybody in the room was engaged and paying attention and had feedback. I don’t know the last time I was in a room with 60 high school students where that was the case.”

The City of Mesa’s planning division has embraced the potential of spatial technology through its innovative use of ArcGIS tools. By developing the Experience Builder app for public engagement, designing transit-oriented developments with ArcGIS Urban and ArcGIS CityEngine, and enhancing public participation in the General Plan update, the city is setting a strong foundation for its future growth.

These initiatives are helping create a more sustainable, connected, and transparent planning process, ensuring that Mesa evolves in a way that benefits both its residents and the broader region. By using cutting-edge tools and collaborative efforts, the city is leading the way in a modern approach to urban planning, demonstrating how technology can transform both internal review processes and stakeholder engagement.