Framework: The CapaCity Model
CapaCity Planning is more than a tool, it is a foundational framework grounded in fiscal and economic analysis, engineering insight, risk assessment, public health, governance, and community experience. It reflects our belief that sustainable progress can only emerge when communities confront both the facts of their current reality and the values that shape their desired future.
Our framework is designed to move beyond static reports and siloed assessments. It integrates quantitative data with qualitative insight, helping communities identify structural barriers, leverage local strengths, and align around priorities that are both actionable and meaningful. CapaCity is holistic, rigorous and relational, guiding communities to define what is possible, what is urgent, and what is worth doing together.
At the heart of the framework is a comprehensive diagnostic process that examines current conditions, critical stressors, untapped assets, and emerging opportunities. We analyze communities horizontally, not as fragmented systems, but as interconnected dimensions whose performance is shaped by their relationships, constraints, and community dynamics.
CapaCity organizes our analysis around four domains with varying dimensions that define a community’s adaptive strength and long-term viability:
- Economic and Fiscal (e.g., revenue stability, employment base, economic diversity, investment capacity)
- Physical and Environmental (e.g., infrastructure integrity, climate risk exposure, land use, housing conditions, energy systems)
- Governance and Institutional (e.g., leadership effectiveness, fiscal condition, cross-sector collaboration, public trust, data systems, regulatory readiness)
- Human and Social (e.g., education outcomes, health equity, social cohesion, workforce readiness, civic engagement, and community well-being)
Each foundational area is assessed using a combination of data-driven analysis and lived experience, tailored to reflect a community’s scale, geography, and strategic priorities. These enable communities to move from general ambition to focused action, identifying not just what they could do, but what they should do based on urgency, feasibility, and impact.
Importantly, CapaCity is not a one-time plan. It is a strategic action framework guiding project sequencing, resource allocation, and investment packaging. It supports transparent decision-making, stakeholder alignment, and long-term implementation helping communities translate complexity into clarity, insights into results, and visions into reality.
In a time of tightening resources and accelerating risk, the CapaCity Framework empowers communities to focus, act, and build a future where sustainability, resilience, and well-being are not abstract aspirations, but achievable and measurable means to ensure long-term viability.