Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning (RSVP)
Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning
The Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning Process (RSVP) helps cities create a community-supported downtown vision, plan and implementation program.
The RSVP is both a master planning process and a downtown planning document that illustrates a community’s vision for the future and provides the steps to get there. Driven by a robust public input process that encourages participation of all community members, RSVPs help local governments prioritize their cities’ top issues and work to establish consensus around short- and long-term goals.
The RSVP process delivers a tangible representation of a community’s ideal future, along with a work program that helps local leaders make this community vision a reality.
Each RSVP plan is developed with a three-step planning process:
- Step I: Public input and engagement
- Step II: Visioning and design
- Step III: Implementation program
As of 2026, 37 RSVP plans have been created or are in progress in 31 communities, including three in Tennessee: Athens, TN and Ducktown and Copper Hill as part of Copper Basin RSVP.
Partner communities include: Americus, Athens TN, Bainbridge (2), Brunswick, Cairo,
Carrollton, Catoosa County (Hutcheson Medical Center Masterplan), Cedartown, Chickamauga,
Clarkesville, Copper Basin (McCaysville, GA, Copper Hill, TN, and Ducktown, TN), Cordele,
Dalton, Fort Oglethorpe, Gainesville (4), Hawkinsville, Hinesville, Homerville, Jefferson,
Jesup, LaFayette, Perry, Ringgold (2), St. Marys (2), Stockbridge, Thomson, Tifton,
Villa Rica, and Warner Robins
Sample Reports
Located approximately 50 miles west of Atlanta, Carrollton offers convenient access to big city amenities while preserving the city's small-town atmosphere and attractive rural setting. The Carrollton Renaissance Strategic Plan (RSVP) captures the vision of local citizens to help chart the course for an "altogether original downtown long into the future.
Situated at the heart of Clinch County near the world-famous Okefenokee Swamp, Homerville is a place of tradition and hometown pride. Homerville is “fit to bursting” with Southern hospitality and neighborly warmth. The Homerville Renaissance Strategic Plan (RSVP) captures the vision of hundreds of local citizens to help chart the course for a rejuvenated downtown Homerville.
Featuring many tree-lined streets with historic homes and a well-regarded local school system, LaFayette is a safe and inviting place to call home. The LaFayette RSVP Steering Committee refined community priorities and helped guide development of the final RSVP plan.
Building on Gainesville’s downtown and midtown revitalization efforts, the Park Hill Corridor Plan creates a community-driven vision for the Riverside–Morningside–Park Hill area. The plan identifies opportunities to improve connectivity, enhance the corridor’s appearance and guide future investment while strengthening this established community gateway.
Rich in history and once a thriving center of Gainesville’s African American community, the Athens Street and 129 South corridors remain important gateways into the city. The community-driven plan outlines strategies to improve connectivity, pedestrian safety, greenspace and neighborhood investment while preserving the area’s heritage and strengthening its sense of place.
As the commercial and cultural heart of Northeast Georgia, downtown Gainesville combines historic character with a growing regional economy. The Downtown Gainesville Renaissance Strategic Vision and Plan reflects extensive community input and provides strategies for improved connectivity, programming, design and economic development to guide downtown’s continued growth and revitalization.
Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership
The RSVP process is the signature planning program offered by the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership, a collaboration between the UGA Institute of Government, the Georgia Municipal Association and the Georgia Cities Foundation, with additional support from the Lyndhurst Foundation. The partnership combines resources of university and municipal organizations to help community-led efforts to revitalize Georgia downtowns.
Since 2013, the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership has brought a collaborative planning approach to over 75 cities across Georgia and neighboring states.
Through program elements like the Renaissance Strategic Vision and Planning (RSVP) process, the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Fellowship, targeted design assistance, and collaborative studio courses with the UGA College of Environment and Design, the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership helps provide the tools for communities to realize their visions and maximize their potential.