Chicago implements roadmap to address inequality, promote equity in future planning and development

Over the last several years especially, cities and counties across the United States have confronted inequality in their communities head-on—from changes to housing policies and public safety norms, to striving for diversity in education and management.

Chicago is the latest to reconsider the role of local government with the publication of a 10-year framework that promotes equity and resiliency. It sets out more than 40 goals and 150 objectives across housing, culture and arts, energy, public health and safety, transportation, learning, civic engagement and economic development.

“This document will be a critical tool to guide the city’s future annual budgets, capital projects, and policy priorities to ensure public decision-making is focused on the needs of the entire city and all its residents, said Mayor Lori Lightfoot about the plan, “We Will Chicago.” Lightfoot intends to issue an executive order to make sure the roadmap is implemented throughout city hall. Additionally, all future projects considered by the planning commission will have to align with the practices and goals outlined in the plan.

In practice, it’s intended “to advance neighborhood growth and vibrancy—and ensure that all residents can live in healthy, safe communities and feel a sense of belonging,” Lightfoot said. 

The plan was designed by the Chicago Plan Commission following three years of “intensive neighborhood-based and virtual public engagement,” according to a statement about the plan. 

More than 10,000 residents reviewed the plan before it was published.

Its unanimous adoption represents the first time a citywide plan has passed on its initial try in more than 50 years. 

“We Will Chicago’s priorities are unique to the city’s needs today,” said Maurice Cox, commissioner of the city’s Department of Planning and Development. “The same way the ‘1909 Plan of Chicago’ was a reflection of the city’s needs for civic improvements and the ‘1966’ plan identified many capital projects, We Will represents the hopes and dreams of Chicagoans for a more equitable and resilient city.” 

Acknowledgement of past inequalities is at the roadmap’s core. From taking land from Native tribes, to the displacement of tens of thousands of people to make way for the Federal Highway System, redlining, blockbusting, and the urban renewal initiative of the ’50s and ’60s that uprooted poor and Black neighborhoods, Chicago has a deep history of inequality, as do many American cities. Today, class- and race-driven health disparities are among the most obvious ways inequality can be seen.

“The city’s most significant health disparities involve Chicagoans’ life expectancies,” the roadmap says. “For example, the life expectancy gap between white and Black residents has increased from almost nine to 10 years since 2017, while the life expectancies of Latino residents have decreased by seven years since 2012.”

While broad in its scope, the roadmap breaks things down into actionable goals. 

For the goal of supporting creative sector workers and businesses, for example, the plan says to strengthen infrastructure, decrease barriers that have prevented artists from accessing city funding, and support partnerships. 

Data underpins and justifies each actionable item: “Chicago’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations have significantly smaller budgets and have historically received less local government funding than organizations in other metropolitan areas, though city funding for the arts has more than doubled since 2019,” the report says.

Implementation of the plan will be guided by annual reports, interim plan updates, and other mechanisms.