Planning & Community Engagement

​At Ainat Limited, we believe successful planning begins with meaningful community engagement. Our planning and engagement services are designed to help organizations, municipalities, developers, institutions, and community stakeholders create thoughtful, inclusive, and sustainable solutions that reflect the needs and vision of the people they serve. By combining strategic planning, design thinking, stakeholder collaboration, and community-driven decision making, we help transform ideas into actionable long-term development strategies.

Drawing from extensive experience in urban planning, community development, design strategy, and public engagement, our team facilitates comprehensive planning processes that encourage participation, transparency, and collaboration at every stage. Services include community visioning sessions, strategic planning workshops, public engagement campaigns, charrettes, stakeholder meetings, surveys, asset mapping, economic development planning, corridor studies, redevelopment strategies, neighborhood revitalization planning, and implementation support.

Ainat Limited has been involved in award-winning community engagement initiatives, including the Scotlandville Comprehensive Community Development Plan (SCCDP), which utilized extensive public outreach, listening tours, workshops, surveys, vision sessions, youth engagement programs, planning charrettes, and stakeholder collaboration to help shape a long-term community-driven vision for Scotlandville. The SCCDP engagement process emphasized giving residents a voice in decision-making, strengthening community partnerships, and creating a shared vision for sustainable economic and neighborhood development.

The process used in the SCCDP plan is a staple of our process which includes community listening tours, K-12 student design competitions, community workshops, visioning sessions, planning charrettes, business and community surveys, and collaborative development strategies involving residents, business owners, educational institutions, local organizations, and public agencies. These efforts helps create a framework focused on economic development, transportation, housing, recreation, safety, environmental sustainability, and community identity while fostering long-term community ownership and engagement throughout the planning process.

Our planning philosophy centers around creating places that are economically viable, socially connected, culturally meaningful, and positioned for long-term growth. Whether supporting community revitalization efforts, institutional master planning, workforce and economic development initiatives, or public-private partnerships, Ainat Limited is committed to helping communities and organizations build collaborative strategies that create measurable impact and lasting value.

Planning and community engagement efforts at Ainat Limited are led by Jason Lockhart, AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners), a designer, urban planner, educator, strategist, and business consultant with more than 25 years of experience in planning, development, design, and project leadership. Jason has worked on residential, commercial, mixed-use, and institutional projects throughout his career, including developments with project values exceeding $200 million, and currently serves as a Project Advisor on a multi-billion-dollar mixed-use development initiative.

Jason has helped lead planning, development, and community-focused initiatives specializing in mixed-use developments, university master planning, strategic growth, and community revitalization efforts. His background combines practical industry experience with academic leadership, having taught in the School of Architecture and School of Interior Design at Southern University and Louisiana State University (LSU), where he earned the rank of Associate Professor before returning to private practice.

Jason played a leadership role in the award-winning Scotlandville Comprehensive Community Development Plan (SCCDP), helping guide extensive public engagement efforts that included community listening tours, stakeholder meetings, youth design competitions, planning charrettes, workshops, surveys, and visioning sessions designed to create a truly community-driven planning process. These efforts focused on giving residents, businesses, students, and community organizations a voice in shaping the long-term future of Scotlandville through collaborative planning and sustainable development strategies.
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With a unique combination of expertise in planning, design, education, marketing, and strategic development, Jason brings a multidisciplinary approach to every project. His leadership philosophy centers around collaboration, innovation, community empowerment, and creating practical implementation strategies that generate measurable and lasting impact for organizations and communities alike.

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