The State Development Plan serves as the overall planning document for the State of New Hampshire. It is intended to:
- Reflect the vision of residents;
- Guide state agencies in developing master plans, programs, and projects;
- Establish agency priorities;
- Allocate limited resources; and
- Guide the master plans of local governments and regional agencies
The purpose and framework for the State Development Plan is established in RSA 9-A. In accordance with the statute, OPD is directed to assist the Governor in preparing and updating the plan every four years, starting October 1, 2003.
Per the statute, the State Development Plan should reflect the principles of smart growth, including goals and policies related to:
- Overall vision
- Land use
- Transportation
- Public facilities
- Housing
- Economic development
- Natural resources
- Natural hazards
- Recreation
- Utility and public service
- Regional concerns
- Cultural and historic resources
- Implementation
The original State Development Plan was created in 1988, with updates published every two years until 1998. While the 1988 plan and subsequent revisions are not available online, a later document published in 2000 is available:
New Hampshire in the New Economy: A Vision for Prosperity. This was the first ever economic development plan created for the state, as a collaboration between the then named Department of Resources and Economic Development and Office of State Planning.
BEA’s Division of Economic Development also recently created an Economic Recovery and Expansion Strategy, a multi-year blueprint for economic development that can be found
here.