City Plan

Sunderland is a fantastic, forward-looking city undergoing significant transformation and economic regeneration. It has a global reputation as a welcoming and inclusive place in which to live, work, invest and play.

To guide further progress over the next decade, we have developed a new City Plan for Sunderland. It is a "city" plan - not just a council plan - which provides the blueprint for all partners and communities to work together, to address the economic and social challenges that Sunderland faces so that the city and its people can achieve their full potential.

These include:

stemming outward migration
ensuring the city centre functions as the economic motor for the whole city, growing Sunderland businesses
improving the skills and qualifications of local residents to match the needs of industry in the city
changing poor health behaviours
addressing the high levels of children in need and in care

The City Plan, approved by full Council on 12 November 2019, is clear about what we need to do to achieve our bold and ambitious vision to create a connected, international city by 2030 with opportunities for all our residents.

To achieve this, the City Plan has three themes:

by 2030 Sunderland will be a dynamic city with more and better jobs, it will be on course to become a low-carbon economy with a great choice of housing. It will be a digitally connected City providing fibre to every premise, and the best ultra-high capacity, low latency wireless network for its businesses, residents and visitors
it will be a healthy city where people will live healthier lives for longer, with people accessing our wonderful natural assets such as our beaches, parks and countryside
and it will be a vibrant city, rich with the diversity of great creative and cultural businesses. The residents of Sunderland will be active, enjoying a fulfilling cultural life, and clean, green and safe neighbourhoods

The city's people and communities are at the heart of the City Plan, which is already being delivered, at pace, with significant investment and developments recently announced, with more to come.

In line with the council's approach to carbon reduction and cost saving, the City Plan is published solely electronically here.