Strategic Planning in Municipal Government: the Case of City of Ottawa LA PLANIFICATION STRATEGIQUE DANS LE GOUVERNEMENT MUNICIPAL:

Aim: Strategic Planning is a very popular decision-making framework and process for public management. However, theoretically the relationship between ‘strategic planning’ and ‘strategic management’ has been extremely debated as these two concepts have been appeared in some literature interchangeably. The paper is an attempt to see the real relationship between ‘strategic planning’ and ‘strategic management’. Methods: The paper has been written on the basis of qualitative method. The City of Ottawa has been considered as a case to see how the city authority treats strategic planning and strategic management in practice. In fact, the article outlines the theoretical and practical relationship of these two important concepts at municipal level. Results: It appears that strategic planning is an inevitable element of strategic management, which generally appears after strategic formulation. Therefore, strategic planning and strategic management are not the same , though the two terms have been used interchangeably in many literatures. Conclusion: The emergent urbanization and globalization have resulted in municipal governments moving towards strategic planning. The process of strategic planning is multi-layered and complex. The planning should be tied to strategic management to achieve strategic goals and objectives.