The term master plan or master planning refers to a long-term planning process that creates a conceptual plan for land use to guide future development and growth. A master plan is developed through a comprehensive process that integrates analysis, community input, existing developments, physical land characteristics, and social and economic needs into a compelling vision and conceptual plan for land usage (e.g., a campus, city). A master plan provides analysis, recommendations, and guidelines for a site’s physical layout, land uses, building types (e.g., office buildings, apartments or homes, stores), program uses (e.g., housing, offices, retail), transportation and mobility, and projected site population.

In higher education, a master plan serves as a framework to guide decision-making about the physical composition or organization of campus land in the ...