People in Leicester are being invited to help shape a blueprint on how the city should be developed over the next few years.
Officials at Leicester City Council are preparing a local plan - a document required by the Government to set out planning policies and guide decisions on new development.
The council has launched an eight-week public consultation on the next local plan which is due to be adopted in 2016.
The council says up to 1,350 homes will need to be built in the city each year until 2013 to cope with the growing population and meet Government targets.
Residents will be asked to comment on the sort of homes needed and where they think they should be built such as on former industrial sites.
They will also be also be asked to comment on the contentious issues of where new student accommodation and managed travellers' plots should be provided.
Other questions relate to the future provision of community facilities and public spaces and measures to tackle flooding.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "The local plan is an important opportunity to steer future development in the city.
"Future growth needs to be planned to ensure that we create the sort of confidence that will help attract major investment and ensure that people living in Leicester reap the benefits of new business, jobs and other facilities.
"This first consultation will give people the chance to help shape the local Plan by telling us what they think of our ideas, and raise any issues they think need addressing."
He added: "These documents are normally quite dry and I wanted to take the opportunity to add our vision for the city.
"The consultation will let people tell us what sort of city they want Leicester to be in the future
"It is important because the local plan allows us to exercise our planning powers and to prevent undesirable development."
The consultation will end at 5pm on Wednesday December 10 when work will begin on drafting the Leicester local plan.
The draft plan will be published for further public comment before being submitted to the Secretary of State and Planning Inspectorate for approval in 2015.
A final round of public examination involving an independent inspector will then take place before the new plan is adopted.
To take part in the consultation visit www.leicester.gov.uk/haveyoursay
Copies of the consultation documents will also be available in local libraries.
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