California has begun a statewide growth scenario plan, with aims to devise detailed growth scenarios with an eye toward reducing carbon emissions. The planning project has been awarded to Berkeley-based Calthorpe Associates with a budget of $2.5 million and will be overseen by the Strategic Growth Council.

The work begins by bringing together existing regional plans. From there various scenario plans will be run to come up with a preferred scenario. To date no statewide scenario planning has occurred, and the passage of the high speed rail system has spurred the interest in low-impact planning.

This in an 18-month project with three phases. Th first step is compiling data and defining standards. The second phase involves scenario building with alternative growth scenarios tested . The final phase is to share the preferred vision with local governments and other stakeholders.

Read more about the project in this SF Gate article.

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