Community Development and Urban Planning in Northern Mariana Islands

Cnmi Office Of Planning And Development

Established in 2017 through Public Law 20-20, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Office of Planning and Development (OPD) is the CNMI’s main government office for guiding future development and ensuring that government projects and initiatives are sustainable for decades to come. One critical mandate for OPD is to create the CNMI Comprehensive Sustainable Development Plan (CSDP), which is the CNMI's guiding document for sustainable planning and implementation. The 2021-2030 CNMI CSDP can be found here: https://opd.gov.mp/assets/2021-2030_cnmi_csdp.pdf Along with creating the CSDP, OPD is also mandated to- Improve planning in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to increase the effectiveness of government and private actions as well as coordination among different agencies and levels of government to guide growth of the CNMI, working with the Planning and Development Advisory Council (PDAC) and other partners- Serve as a clearinghouse for all information related to development, planning, and resource use in CNMI and to identify objectives, policies, and priorities for the CNMI- Provide a basis for determining priorities and allocating resources; and - Establish a system for plan formulation and program coordination to provide for an integration of all major CNMI and individual island activities. To support CSDP implementation and the promotion of sustainability outcomes, OPD is closely involved with several of the CNMI’s major federally funded natural and built environment investment projects focusing on coral and wetland restoration, solid waste management, cultural preservation, tourism, and broadband planning and deployment. OPD maintains strong working relationships with the federal government agencies that are funding these investments, such as the U.S. Economic Development Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others.

11 to 50 staff