A city (or county) is not an accident but the result of coherent visions and aims

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4
Required Elements 
Designing Healthy, Equitable, Resilient, and Economically Vibrant Places
“A city (or county) is not an accident but the result of  
coherent visions and aims.”                                                                                                                           
—Leon Krier, The Architecture of Community
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Introduction
All statutory references are to the California Government Code unless otherwise noted.
While a general plan will contain the community vision for future growth, California law also requires each plan to address 
the mandated elements listed in 
Government Code section 65302
. The mandatory elements for all jurisdictions are 
land use
, 
circulation
, 
housing
, 
conservation
, 
open space
, 
noise
, and 
safety
. Cities and counties in the 
San Joaquin Air Pollution Control 
District
 must also address 
air quality
 in their general plans. Cities and counties that have identified disadvantaged communities 
must also address 
environmental justice
 in their general plans, including air quality. The purpose of the following sections is to 
outline the content of each element as required by statute. 
Relationships Among Elements and Issues
This chapter presents each of the mandatory elements separately. There is no requirement that a general plan be organized 
into separate elements, however, and planners should consider local context in general plan preparation. A jurisdiction may 
Land Use 
Circulation
Housing
Conservation
Open Space
Noise
Safety
Environmental Justice
Air Quality
Quick Links to Individual Elements

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4
organize its general plan in any format, including consolidated elements, so long as all of the relevant statutory issues are 
addressed (
Gov. Code § 65301; Kings County Farm Bureau v. City of Hanford (1990) 221 Cal.App.3d 692
). The elements and 
issues should form an integrated, internally consistent plan, and inconsistencies cannot be remedied by a statement giving one 
element precedence over the others (
Gov. Code § 65300.5; Sierra Club v. Board of Supervisors of Kern County (1981) 126 Cal.
App.3d 698
). A concise general plan can avoid repetitive discussions of topics by consolidating the statutory requirements into 
a few functional elements. When revising a single element, local agencies should examine and, if necessary, revise the other 
elements, including optional elements, to avoid internal inconsistencies. The statutory elements call for interrelated content. 
For example, consideration given in the 
conservation element
 to the vegetation that supports an endangered wildlife species also 
involves analyzing topography, weather, fire hazards, availability of water, and density of development—issues which arise in 
other elements as well. The table on the following page illustrates the potential relationships among the mandatory elements 
and the issues addressed in a general plan. Not every general plan will address these issues to the same extent or in the same 
manner. Cities and counties should design their general plan format to suit the topographic, geologic, climatologic, political, 
socioeconomic, cultural, and historical diversity of their community. Each section in this GPG document will also highlight the 
relationships between the elements.
Topics, Elements
Land Use
Circulation
Housing
Conservation
Open Space
Noise
Safety
Environmen-
tal Justice
Agriculture
n
n
n
n
n
n
Air Quality
n
n
n
n
n
n
Airports
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Bicycle and Pedestrian Routes
n
n
n
n
n
Climate Change (Adaptation)
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Climate Change (GHG 
Emissions)
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Density
n
n
n
n
n
Education
n
n
n
n
n
Social Equity
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Environmental Justice
n
n
n
n
n
Fire
n
n
n
n
n
Fisheries
n
n
n
n
n
n
Flooding
n
n
n
n
n
n
Food Access
n
n
n
n
n
Forests/Timber
n
n
n
n
n
n
Health
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Housing
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Industrial Uses
n
n
n
n
n
n
Land Reclamation
n
n
n
Land Use
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n 
Identified in statute     
n 
Closely related to statutory requirements   

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4
n 
Identified in statute     
n 
Closely related to statutory requirements    
Regardless of which format a general plan takes, the content must form an integrated, internally consistent plan (
Sierra Club 
v. Board of Supervisors of Kern County
 (1981) 126 Cal.App.3d 698
). 
Mandatory Element Format
The Government Code requires OPR to “develop and adopt guidelines for the preparation of and the content of the mandatory 
elements required in city and county general plans” (
Gov. Code § 65040.2
). According to the Government Code, the guidelines 
shall be “advisory to each city and county in order to provide assistance in preparing and maintaining their respective general 
plans” (
Gov. Code § 65040.2(c)
).
These Guidelines present the statutory elements in the order that they appear in 
Government Code section 65302
. This order 
should not be construed as a ranking of importance or the order in which a jurisdiction should prepare elements. Elements can 
be prepared in any order or combined, as discussed in.
For a glossary of terms and a description of the parts of a general plan, see 
Appendix E
.
Military Compatibility
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Minerals
n
n
n
n
n
n
Noise Contours
n
n
n
n
n
Public Buildings
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Railways and Yards
n
n
n
n
n
n
Recreation
n
n
n
n
n
n
Scenic Resources
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
School Siting
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Seismic Hazards
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Soil Conservation
n
n
n
n
n
n
Soil Instability
n
n
n
n
n
Transportation Routes
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Transportation Terminals
n
n
n
n
n
n
Topics, Elements
Land Use
Circulation
Housing
Conservation
Open Space
Noise
Safety
Environmen-
tal Justice
Utilities/ Easements
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Waste Facilities
n
n
n
n
n
n
Water Quality
n
n
n
n
n
Water Supply
n
n
n
n
n
n
Watersheds
n
n
n
n
n
Waterways/Water Bodies
n
n
n
n
n
n
Wildlife 
n
n
n
n
n
 
   

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