Last week at the American Planning Association (APA) National Planning Conference in Denver, the Gwinnett County 2045 Unified Plan (led by TSW) was awarded the Quality of Life Award, one of six awards given by APA for Excellence in Sustainability. The Unified Plan was also recognized by the Atlanta Regional Commission with a Visioning Planning Award in late 2024. Congratulations to Gwinnett County and team members Allison Stewart-Harris, Nick Johnson, Roxanne Raven, and Jia Li at TSW, and our partner firms, Blue Cypress, Atlas, Fourth Economy, Dr. DJ (Deborah Johnson), and Perez Planning + Design!

More about the project: Over an 11-month period in 2023-2024, TSW engaged in a robust community input process and developed a plan that focuses on the preservation of Gwinnett’s quality of life, as well as the promotion of intentional and community-beneficial development.

The 2045 Gwinnett County Unified Plan will serve as the county’s blueprint for the next two decades. The plan is oriented around the idea of the Daily Community—a framework that imagines how Gwinnett’s shopping centers and hubs of activity could be redeveloped to support new housing, connections, and amenities. The Daily Community is a concept detailing how residents can access work, goods, and services within a 15-minute trip from home.