Imagine Parks - Achieving the Vision of parks and open spaces in Calgary

Having access to good quality parks and open spaces has been shown to be a key factor in improving quality of life in urban environments. Calgary has an abundance and variety of public open spaces, ranging from natural areas to playgrounds and playfields to off-leash areas, community gardens and pathways.

Imagine Parks

Parks and Open Spaces has a 30-year vision that sets the overall strategic direction for the development and management of public parks and open spaces in Calgary called Imagine Parks. It serves as the foundation for strategic planning and the creation of various business plans.

The Imagine Parks long-term vision was approved by City Council on March 30, 2015. The development of Imagine Parks was guided by public engagement, research, and legislative requirements that informed the creation of the ideal future state of the parks and open spaces system for Calgary. Imagine Parks aligns with The City of Calgary’s existing long-range plans such as: Imagine Calgary, the ), Municipal Development Plan (MDP), and the 2020 Sustainability Direction.

This work was followed up in 2021 by the creation of the Imagine Parks Appendix. This work bridged the gap between the vision of parks and how best to implement and measure success related to the outcomes identified.

This Appendix of success with measurable targets required to implement and operationalize the imagineParks vision. The indicators have been created with a 10-15 year time-frame in order for progress to be made, measured, and tracked. These indicators of success will allow Parks and Open Spaces to clearly and succinctly communicate our story and the value that our work provides to citizens.

As part of this work, annual monitoring reports will be produced to provide the quantitative and qualitative progress that is being made on the key priority areas. You can find the previous monitoring reports here (the most updated report will be added as it is released):

The Imagine Parks Appendix is intentionally designed to be a dynamic, living document allowing for flexibility to adjust year over year while maintain a line of sight towards the ideal future state of parks and open spaces.

  • Connection

    Increase the % of Calgarians that have connected with parks and open spaces to 90% by 2030.

  • Wellness

    For months with snow, increase the % of Calgarians spending more than 20 minutes in a park or open space to 85% by 2030.

  • Reducing Barriers to Access

    Increase the % of households within a 400m walking distance of a multifunctional park or open space.

  • Experiences

    To achieve a Customer Level of Service (CLOS) rating of at least 2.0 for all regional/destination parks and

    at least 3.0 for all other park types by 2030.

  • Conservation and Ecosystem Resiliency

    Increase the Habitat Condition Rating (HCR) category for 20% of the priority 1 and 2 Natural Environment Parks to perform at their full ecological potential by 2035.

  • Sustainable Management

    Sustainable and resilient practices in planning and managing parks and open space are increased.

  • Best Practices

    Maintain the ‘Overall Best Practices’ score of 90% in the Yardstick Report until 2030.

  • Valuing External Partnerships

    Parks partnerships overall value to Calgarians is increased.

  • Parks Workplace Culture

    Increase the Corporate Employee Survey score to 75% for select questions by 2030.

This information has no legal status and cannot be used as an official interpretation of the various bylaws, codes and regulations currently in effect. The City of Calgary accepts no responsibility to persons relying solely on this information. Web pages are updated periodically. ​

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