Summary Report: Community and Regional Planning Program Contributions to Nebraska's Economic Development, Community Planning, and Hazard Resilience
The Community and Regional Planning (CRP) program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln plays a critical role in advancing the university’s land-grant mission by serving communities across the state through applied research, service learning, and community engagement. These efforts directly contributed to UNL’s successful designation as a Carnegie Community Engagement Campus in 2024.
The CRP program has made substantial impacts on both economic development and community hazard resilience throughout Nebraska. Through collaborative studio projects, students and faculty have delivered high-impact planning and technical assistance to both rural and urban communities. These partnerships have produced tangible outcomes, including revitalization plans, housing studies, tourism strategies, and infrastructure assessments—efforts that have guided local development, enhanced community resilience, and unlocked significant public funding.
Economic Development
The CRP program has driven economic development through a series of comprehensive planning efforts. Downtown revitalization plans were developed for Elmwood (2025), Bennet (2023), Peru (2023), Beatrice (2022), Syracuse (2020), and David City (2020). Based on these student-produced planning documents, David City, Beatrice, and Syracuse each secured over $400,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.
In addition, the program supported regional economic strategies through several key projects. Housing needs assessments for York County and Lincoln/Lancaster County were directly used by city and county officials to inform affordable housing strategies. A regional tourism plan for the Ponca Tribe, the City of Niobrara, and Knox County leveraged natural and cultural assets to promote tourism-driven growth in northern Nebraska. The comprehensive plan for the Ogallala area reimagined the region’s future economic development, while the Southeast Flood System Plan (2022–2023) supported agricultural productivity and food system resilience in eastern Nebraska. The statewide water infrastructure inventory plan created by the CRP program informed the Nebraska Legislature and Governor’s Six Regions, One Nebraska initiative, helping prioritize critical infrastructure upgrades essential for long-term economic growth.
Community Safety and Flood Resilience
The CRP program has also taken a leadership role in supporting hazard mitigation and flood recovery planning following the historic 2019 floods. Faculty and students have actively contributed to resilience planning efforts in Fremont, Winslow, and across Dodge, Douglas, and Sarpy counties. When the Village of Winslow was devastated by the 2019 floods, the program responded immediately to an urgent request from local leaders. Through a zero-cost service project, CRP faculty and 27 students from the CRPL 990 Planning Studio and CRPL 872 Hazard Mitigation Planning courses developed a comprehensive flood recovery and relocation plan. The students’ work was valued at $94,500 and served as the required 25% local match for Winslow’s FEMA disaster recovery application—critical support for a small village with limited resources after the historic flood.
The success of the Winslow project elevated the program’s profile and led to expanded roles in statewide flood mitigation and resilience planning, supported by both state and federal agencies. Building on this momentum, CRP faculty and students have contributed to long-term flood mitigation planning for Nebraska’s most impacted communities, as well as for the Ponca, Santee Sioux, and Pawnee Nations.
Housing and Community Development – Active & Healthy Communities
Faculty and students of the CRP program have collaborated with the City of Lincoln, Woods Charitable Fund, NeighborWorks-Lincoln, and local neighborhood associations to strengthen and revitalize Lincoln’s neighborhoods. Through an inclusive, citizen-driven assessment process, the project helped residents identify neighborhood priorities and develop a community assessment framework and tool. This tool enabled local stakeholders to collect valuable data on housing conditions and environmental features that would otherwise have been unavailable.
Leveraging Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS), the initiative empowered residents, built community capacity, and fostered civic engagement. Between 2010 and 2019, over 400 neighborhood residents and UNL students assessed approximately 13,000 properties across nine Lincoln neighborhoods: Clinton, University Place, Irvingdale, Everett, Woods Park, Havelock, Indian Village, Hartley, and Near South.
Findings were shared with city departments, neighborhood associations, and NeighborWorks-Lincoln, informing housing code education, interdepartmental coordination, and neighborhood improvement strategies. The data and insights were actively used by partner organizations and community leaders to advance housing and environmental conditions. This work was selected as a featured project by the Woods Charitable Fund.
Safe Routes to School Project
In a related effort, the CRP program partnered with NeighborWorks-Lincoln, Lincoln Public Schools (LPS), Dawes Middle School, the School Advisory Committee, the Community Learning Center (CLC), the City of Lincoln, and residents of the Havelock neighborhood to support the Safe Routes to School initiative. Using school environment audit tools and on-the-ground surveys, the project assessed the pedestrian environment and evaluated walkability conditions around Dawes Middle School, promoting safer and more accessible routes for students.