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Chicago unveils first city framework plan in more than 50 years and seeks public input

2022-08-02T09:00:00-04:00

Chicago has unveiled a draft of its first citywide framework plan since 1966, charting how the city intends to become more equitable and resilient. The plan, titled We Will Chicago, is led by neighborhood stakeholders, artists, community partners, and city agencies. Having launched in 2020, the draft framework is now seeking public feedback before completion and presentation to the Chicago Plan Commission in early 2023.

The framework describes itself as “the first planning process in the City’s history that acknowledges the past as much as the future.” To that end, the plan seeks to address systemic declines which have arisen from previous plans, policies, and market forces, including structural racism, poverty, depopulation, and health disparities. The plan also seeks to enable the city to “survive, adapt, and rebound in the face of chronic stresses and acute shocks like climate change and pandemics.”

The We Will Chicago framework consists of eight pillars

The draft plan consists o...

The Edmonton Freezeway may soon become a reality

2015-02-26T19:37:00-05:00

If all goes accordingly, Canada might get another ice-skating trail known as The Freezeway to turn Edmonton -- a city that can get average below-freezing winter temperatures up to five months in a year -- into a hot destination. Or more like a winter wonderland. Proposed by Edmonton-born graduate student Matthew Gibbs, the 11 km Freezeway is a climate adaptive trail that would enable users to skate to different parts of the city.

Gibbs got inspiration for the skating trail when former city councilor Tooker Gomberg suggested, perhaps lightheartedly, back in the 1990s that the city "crack the fire hydrants open in the winter and flood the streets so people can skate to work."

In the summer months, the Freezeway would become a greenway for bikes and walking. According to Gibbs, the trail would promote a more active winter lifestyle, winter programming and social activities, and an alternative method of sustainable transportation.

Since the Freezeway was one of three winners in the annual ...

The 2014 Buckminster Fuller Challenge semi-finalists

2014-08-27T21:14:00-04:00

The next edition of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Challenge has already begun! Every year, the highly competitive international challenge searches for the most inventive -- and effective -- holistic solution strategies to the world's most pressing problems. The Challenge Review Committee selected 20 semi-finalist initiatives out of 450 proposals worldwide. Each project went through three rounds of rigorous evaluations.

See the rest of the projects and other details on Bustler.

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle as the next Silicon Valley?

2013-08-12T17:49:00-04:00

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle could become the next Silicon Valley -- if the strategic plan to bolster the emerging tech hub comes to full fruition. The plan was developed over a six-month period by a multidisciplinary team led by WXY Architecture + Urban Design and the Brooklyn Tech Triangle coalition (Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the DUMBO Improvement District, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation). The Tech Triangle is projected to bring immense growth to the local economy as soon as 2015.

In 2012, local tech and creative firms participated in a study conducted by the coalition that revealed the Triangle's potential for economic impact and innovation. The Triangle contains Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Key objectives in the strategic plan include enhancing workforce development, increasing availability of affordable real estate, improving infrastructure and transportation routes, and public-space creation. In summation, the plan aims to...