In association with MIG, Neighboring Concepts provided professional planning and engagement services for the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the long-range plan that is now guiding how Charlotte will equitably shape development and other investments made in the city over the next two decades. Beginning in 2018, Neighboring Concepts especially contributed to the equity audit of previous plans and contributed to the early community engagement processes during the development of the Plan.
 
Neighboring Concepts provided the project team with a historic framework to better apprehend and appreciate the equity and public investment dimensions present in the built fabric conditions of four main “Development Context Areas” of Charlotte – the city core (pre-1945), inner ring suburban (pre-1975), outer ring suburban (post-1975), and today’s emerging light rail station area context areas. These are developed geographies with important distinctions in land use composition and mobility characteristics, demographic equity factors, and resilience factors for development, ecology and infrastructure. These development contexts represented important base factors for the design of the “Growing Better Places” Growth Game – an equity-focused board game designed by MIG to allow Charlotteans to prioritize urban investment decisions for their communities while balancing them equitably with the needs of the whole city. The game, which provided a critical window into the values and thoughts of Charlotteans at a comprehensive level, was played in game sessions throughout Charlotte in the summer of 2019 with the facilitation help of a local gaming non-profit Potions & Pixels. Thanks to the 500,000+ residents who participated in the development of the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan through such engaging and innovative formats, the plan was adopted by Charlotte City Council on June 21, 2021.