Pittsburgh City Council

Department of Public Works; Urban Redevelopment Authority; Pittsburgh Public Schools; MIG Inc.; Mount Washington Community Development Corporation

The Open Space Plan, a component of Pittsburgh’s Comprehensive Plan, is a guide to the optimal use of vacant, green and recreational spaces. Adopted in 2013, the plan introduced five central goals that seek to transform and sustain the city’s open space system in compliance with the visions of city residents. In 2015, there was an update to the plan’s information of the municipal zoning code in the interest of improving and increasing agriculture, and other food production methods (e.g., aquaponics), in the city. Also included in the plan are other action steps related to urban agriculture, such as ensuring urban agriculture is completed outside of environmentally sensitive areas, and altering regulations to allow urban farmers to sell their produce on publicly-owned land through commercial use agreements (outside of community gardens). Programs and initiatives under the provision of the Open Space Plan have shown to attract new users and partners to Pittsburgh’s open space system. For example, Grow Pittsburgh, an organization that advocates for local food production and healthy living through projects such as Edible Schoolyards and community gardens, is one of several innovative programs demonstrating use of forgotten spaces under OpenSpacePGH. With guidance from the plan, decision makers can re-organize current systems to redevelop them to serve Pittsburgh in an efficient and effective manner. OpenSpacePGH encourages stewardship and documentation of progress toward city goals to advance toward sustainable open spaces that provide opportunity for their users.