Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link

Imagine Boston 2030
City of Boston, July 2017
On May 6, 2015, the City of Boston Mayor’s Office
announced what was to be the first city-wide
plan since the 1965-1975 General Plan for the City
of Boston and the Region. 47 Imagine Boston 2030
was one of a series of planning initiatives kicked
off by the newly-elected mayoral administration
to build on the momentum of a substantial city
leadership transition process. In an interview
with our project team, Natalia Urtubey, former
Director of Engagement for Imagine Boston
2030, said the planning initiative stemmed from
concerns of economic opportunity and housing
affordability the mayor heard on the campaign
trail. Urtubey described housing pressure as a
driver of the initial suite of planning initiatives, and
that community engagement was the leading
factor in those processes. 48 Imagine Boston 2030
overlapped in time or in content with at least 19
47 City of Boston, “Mayor Walsh Announces ‘Imagine Boston
2030’ At Design and Architecture Summit.”
48 Urtubey, interview.
Figure 54: Planning Process for Imagine Boston 2030
as a Tripod
other City planning initiatives. Both Urtubey and
Vineet Gupta, Director of Planning at the Boston
Transportation Department (BTD), described
Imagine Boston 2030 as an umbrella for all of these
parallel planning initiatives.
The two-year Imagine Boston 2030 process
culminated with the publication of Imagine
Boston 2030: A Plan for the Future of Boston. To
commemorate the publication, the City hosted a
series of events meant to celebrate the initiative’s
completion and launch the next steps towards
implementation. In an editorial in The Boston Globe
dated July 13, 2017, Mayor Walsh commemorated
a recent launch event in Upham’s Corner, and
lauded Imagine Boston 2030, saying, “It’s a driver of
connection and consensus. It’s a plan of action. It’s
a living document”. 49
Figure 53: Cover Page of Imagine Boston 2030: A Plan for the
Future of Boston
This consensus was based on 15,000 resident
inputs, collected over two years through a series
of varied community engagement activities.
Some of these engagement methods included
neighborhood open houses, street team surveys,
text message surveys, community workshops,
49 Walsh, “Envisioning Boston’s Future.”
72 Activating Columbia Road: Reframing a Missing Link