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Downtown Wichita Action Plan

Downtown Wichita is more than just the center of the city, it’s the heartbeat of the community. A thriving downtown attracts talent and businesses, spurs innovation and serves as a gathering place where people come together.

What is the Downtown Wichita Action Plan?

The Downtown Wichita Action Plan (Action Plan) is an opportunity to help shape the future of Downtown Wichita, ensuring the next decade reflects the distinct spirit of Wichita and its residents.

The Action Plan is an update to the 2010 Project Downtown master plan that provided an aspirational vision and deliberate strategies for public and private sector investment. The 2010 development blueprint drove $1.7 billion in completed investment and created a more than $760 million project pipeline.

This updated plan will focus on attracting development and cultivating strong place identities by amplifying cultural assets, building strong connections between neighborhoods, and encouraging strategic, well-designed urban infill. Downtown Wichita and Greater Wichita Partnership are committed to continually cultivating a vibrant, clean and safe core that enhances the quality of life and attracts talent for years to come.

Our Team

Sasaki, a global urban planning and design firm, is Downtown Wichita’s project partner for the Downtown Wichita Action Plan. The project team includes a full roster of best-in-class design (MCLV), real estate & economics (Ideas & Action), walkability (Speck Dempsey), place identity (Public Sphere Projects), and community engagement (Parson + Associates) firms to inform the vision and 10-year implementation roadmap for the continued revitalization and transformation of the city’s core.

Get Involved

As a member of our community, your input is essential to shaping the future of Downtown Wichita. We invite you to join us in a collaborative process where you can share your vision and ideas for Downtown through a series of public open houses, pop-ups at local events, and online surveys.

We believe a vibrant Downtown Wichita is built by everyone, for everyone: We encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to participate. Our goal is to gather diverse perspectives and ideas to create a lasting legacy for generations to come. 

Upcoming Events

Downtown Wichita Action Plan Kickoff Open House

Event Details:

  • Date: Tuesday, March 4th
  • Time: 5-8 p.m.
  • Place: WAVE, 650 E. 2nd St. N

What to Expect:

  • Downtown walkability talk from “Walkable City” author Jeff Speck
  • Meet the Action Plan project team
  • Share your visions for the future of downtown Wichita

Registration Link: Register here to save your spot!

Action Plan Process

The Downtown Action Plan includes three key phases in advance of its anticipated completion in late summer 2025.

  • Phase 1: Immerse: The project team will analyze Downtown Wichita's current landscape and collectively imagine its future potential, working closely with key Downtown stakeholders and the greater Wichita community to arrive at a shared vision to form the basis for the plan.
  • Phase 2: Ideate & Iterate: The project team will develop an urban design framework, outlining the “big ideas” that will guide downtown development for the next 10 years.
  • Phase 3: Align & Act: The project team will help Downtown Wichita identify ways to implement the action plan and accelerate meaningful change, including public and private financing tools and policy recommendations.

Action Plan Goals

The Action Plan aims to build upon Project Downtown's successes by focusing on implementation, development opportunities, design excellence, and economic vitality in downtown Wichita over the next decade. The Plan emphasizes collaborative engagement, improved connectivity, and educational tools to inspire and inform the community, while aligning with various city initiatives to create a more vibrant and interconnected urban core.

  • Leverage Past Successes: The action plan will build upon Project Downtown’s foundational principles and strategies with a focus on greater levels of implementation in the next 10 years.
  • Continued Cultivation: The action plan will identify and realize current development opportunities and cultivate new, targeted opportunities for future development while coordinating with various city plans and initiatives.
  • Elevate Design and Construction: The action plan will serve as a guiding instrument to ensure that downtown development consists of excellent architectural design and is built with high-quality materials and methods.
  • Provide Educational Tools: The action plan will provide examples to inspire and educate the Wichita community about downtown opportunities and services.
  • Enhance Economic Vitality: The action plan will identify the economic benefits of increased public and private sector investment that supports the collective vision.
  • Collaborative Engagement: The action plan will represent a collaborative effort combining the insights and knowledge of the design firm with ideas generated through extensive community engagement.
  • Improved Connectivity: The action plan will introduce strategies to enhance connectivity between downtown districts and surrounding neighborhoods to promote a vibrant economic environment.