Submissions open on Tuesday on a project that could add up to 7500 new houses to the Hutt Valley by 2031.
Hutt City Council is considering allowing up to 2000 extra houses to be built in Wainuiomata, 5000 in central Lower Hutt and a few hundred in the suburb of Kelson.
The land is mostly privately owned and the council plans to entice developers by putting in infrastructure, including a new road into Wainuiomata and waiving development costs and resource consents.
Mayor Ray Wallace said the city's economy will lag if nothing is done.
But Tiriana Tuara, a Wainuiomata resident opposed to the development, said there are already dozens of sections that have not been sold in the suburb.