Three of the eight challengers to unseat incumbent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot have so far responded to a questionnaire issued by a coalition of local chapters of architects, landscape architects, and planners asking for their input on the Windy City’s built environment.

Candidates Ja'Mal Green, Kam Buckner, and Brandon Johnson answered the seven-question prompt asking their positions on a range of issues that included zoning transparency, planning initiatives, the city’s recent Climate Action Plan, racial inequities, and urban policy.

In their replies, a divergent vision for the city’s future can be seen. One of the most important points related to the Climate Action Plan includes a wide array of responses, all of which called for it to be taken in a direction not previously espoused by the current administration. Ja'Mal Green said that it “must go even further,” adding his own idea for a citywide Green New Deal — a sentiment echoed by his counterpart Johnson, who also called for increased financing for the measure.

Buckner, for his part, decried what he called a lack of accountability latent in the plan, adding “[it] is weak on establishing bike infrastructure, clear and concrete recycling standards and deliverables, Electric Vehicle infrastructure, and water justice.”

Another major policy initiative covered was the Department of Planning and Development’s We Will Chicago plan, which Buckner and Johnson again said did not go far enough. Green, meanwhile, merely offered his support for its goals while stating he had confidence in the agency to implement it. 

Other answers included a slew of new speculative initiatives that might be pursued in office, with Green referring indirectly to the Yes in God’s Backyard movement and stating his intention to add residential units above commercial-zoned properties in an effort to combat the city’s multifaceted housing needs. 

Notably absent were any answers addressing the proposed new Chicago Bears stadium or the future of historic Soldier Field, which Lightfoot has been pushing to have redeveloped into a multipurpose entertainment campus. The Thompson Center was not discussed either. 

Green, Johnson, and Buckner were the only respondents to the questionnaire so far, which the AIA Chicago says was transmitted also to all other mayoral candidates.  

The Chicago Built Environment Coalition included AIA Chicago; AIA Illinois; American Society of Landscape Architects, Illinois chapter; Arquitectos Chicago; Chicago Architecture Center; Chicago Metro Section of the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association; Chicago Women in Architecture; Illinois Green Alliance; Landmarks Illinois; Metropolitan Planning Council; and the National Organization of Minority Architects, Illinois chapter.

The three candidates' full answers can be found here.