Cornell University today announced the selection of a consulting team led by Urban Strategies Inc. of Toronto to develop a comprehensive master plan (CMP) for the physical development of the Ithaca campus, taking into account transportation, utilities and academic programming and with an eye on sustainability and environmental stewardship.

In making the announcement, Stephen Golding, Cornell executive vice president for finance and administration, stated: "The plan will be driven by academic priorities and support the goals and aspirations of the university as it guides the campus's physical development over the next 10 to 25 years. The continuing evolution of the campus presents both opportunities and challenges. A long-term plan will help ensure we capitalize on the former and overcome the latter. While we have a remarkable campus, we want to make it better -- for our students, our faculty, our staff and our neighbors."

The scope of the plan, due for completion in 2007, will be broad, addressing all facets of the physical campus, including the way Cornell uses its land, the arrangement and scale of buildings, and the nature and function of the landscape. The transportation network, the various utility systems and academic space programming also will be important considerations. The CMP will incorporate other planning efforts currently under way by the university's Transportation and Utilities departments, as well as major ongoing or proposed projects, including the new Life Sciences Technology Building now under construction.

The CMP will set the context for physical changes on campus to realize the university's research, teaching, residential and recreational priorities. The plan also will respond to the unique natural setting of the campus and the character of surrounding neighborhoods. Planning principles, a physical framework and design guidelines will provide a basis for future development decisions. Finally, the plan will serve as a larger frame of reference for precinct plans and other focused planning goals and initiatives.

A central theme of the plan will be sustainability and environmental stewardship. Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker, a partner with Urban Strategies, says, "The master plan will provide a tremendous opportunity for Cornell to become a model of sustainable campus planning, which will benefit not only the university but the entire region."

The master planning process will include input from Cornell students, faculty and staff through interviews, meetings and workshops. Neighboring communities will be engaged early on, and public open houses will be held at milestones in the process to report progress and gather feedback. A project Web site will be launched soon to provide regular updates on the CMP process, access to documents and windows for input.

"We want to reach out to the community in the broadest sense so that we understand the full range of issues and opportunities the master plan needs to address," says Rottenberg-Walker.

Urban Strategies was selected to prepare the CMP following a North America-wide search for a team with the capability and experience to deal with the complexity of the Cornell campus and its setting. According to University Planner Mina Amundsen, the Urban Strategies team gained an edge over its competition with its focus on process and the fresh approach and creative ideas it has brought to similar projects. The firm has won numerous awards for its projects in the United States, Canada, England and the Caribbean and has prepared master plans for the University of Minnesota, the University of Toronto and the University of Ottawa.

Other members of the consultant team include Polshek Partnership, a highly regarded architectural firm based in New York City, which has completed projects for Yale, Harvard and the University of Michigan. Vollmer Associates, New England Engineering and GIE Niagara Engineering will address the transportation and utilities components of the plan.