SPUR Planning Policy Area

Planning

We believe: Growth can be good and should be directed to areas
that will support equitable development and sustainability.

Our Goals

• Leverage growth to create great neighborhoods and public spaces.

• Protect and expand open space.

• Concentrate new jobs and housing in downtowns and near major transit hubs.

• Grow up, not out.

Photo of a locally owned bakery storefront in downtown San Francisco

Policy Brief

Small and Mighty

San Francisco’s small businesses face complex regulations, rising costs, and slow economic recovery after the pandemic. SPUR identifies seven interventions to support the city's small business sector.
Read More
Photo of high rise buildings in downtown San Francisco

SPUR Report

From Workspace to Homebase

Converting empty offices into apartments could both reanimate downtown San Francisco and provide housing for more people near transit, jobs, and culture. SPUR explores the suitability of converting office buildings to housing and tests the financial feasibility.
Read More
illustration of a mixed-used downtown with offices, restaurants, childcare, retail, greenspace and transit

Urbanist Article

What If We Get Downtown Right?

SPUR asked community leaders: “What would it look like if cities were to get downtown right?” We invited them to picture a future in which today’s ideas and policy proposals for downtown revitalization are put into place ... and they work.
Read More
photo of a pedestrian bridge and tree cover over the Guadalupe River

Virtual Exhibition

Re-Envisioning the Guadalupe River Park

The Guadalupe River Park is downtown San José’s most important urban green space, but it faces serious challenges. SPUR's virtual exhibition celebrates the promise of the river park and brings together three years of research and conversation about its future.
Read More

Updates and Events

Plan Bay Area Reveals the Need to Change Regional Planning Tools

News /
The latest update to Plan Bay Area is now underway — and its findings have revealed some troubling flaws in the planning tools we have for managing our region’s biggest challenges: making housing affordable and maintaining our transportation infrastructure. Now that these issues have been made apparent, it’s time to ask what we should be doing differently.

SPUR Supports Inclusionary Housing Small Sites Program

Advocacy Letter
Letter supporting a new inclusionary option for developers of small projects to contribute their fee to nearby projects as a way to grow preservation funding and provide another way for developers of small projects to fulfill their affordable housing obligations.

Housing the Next 100,000

Urbanist Article
In a new exhibition, The City + The City, students explore how San Francisco's Affordable Housing Bonus Program and other interventions might help alleviate the city's housing shortage.
Get Our Newsletters