Urban plans only work when citizens understand them. Oklahoma City needed a way to communicate its comprehensive plans, goals, and policies to the people they affect most — its residents. 247 Labs designed and developed planOKC, a custom citizen engagement website (live at planokc.org) built to make city planning genuinely accessible: easy for residents to explore, easy for city staff to keep current, and strong enough as a brand to give the city’s planning work a clear public face.
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Case Study
planOKC: A Citizen Engagement Website Connecting Oklahoma City With Its Residents
Client
City of Oklahoma City — planOKC
Industry
Government · Civic Engagement
Services Provided
Tech Stack
- WordPress
- PHP
- MySQL
- JavaScript
Overview
A citizen engagement website that opens Oklahoma City's planning to every resident
The Challenge
Translating dense planning documents into a site two audiences could use
The core challenge was building a brand and platform that could communicate the city’s urban plans, goals, and policies to the citizens of Oklahoma City. Planning documents are dense by nature, and the site had to translate that complexity into something residents could navigate and understand. It also had to serve a second audience — city staff — who needed to update plans and content themselves, without technical friction slowing down civic communication.
The Solution
A branded WordPress platform citizens explore and city staff run themselves
247 Labs designed and developed a custom WordPress website that serves both sides of the civic conversation. Citizens learn about city plans through a clear, branded experience organized around how residents actually look for information. City staff manage everything through a straightforward CMS, updating content directly as plans and policies evolve — no developer required. The result is civic transparency in practice: planOKC operates as a living resource residents use to stay informed and engage with their city, not a static document dump.
Areas of Impact
Where planOKC delivers for Oklahoma City and its residents
- Civic communication. City plans, goals, and policies presented in a form residents can actually navigate and use.
- A public face for planning. A distinct planOKC brand identity that gives the city's planning efforts recognition and credibility.
- Staff autonomy. City staff update plans and policies directly through the WordPress CMS, without ongoing developer support.
- Two-way engagement. Residents actively use the site to stay informed and communicate with their city.
Results
City planning, made public
Primary audiences served
Residents access planning information while city staff maintain the site
Planning content types unified
Plans, goals, and policies are centralized in one public platform
Developer handoffs needed for routine updates
City staff update plans and policies directly in WordPress without developer support
247 Labs delivered a web platform that not only looked exceptional but performed exactly the way our data models required. They took the time to understand the analytical demands behind the front end and built something that genuinely supports how we work.
Malak Ahmad — Data Analyst, Deloitte
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