Program
Welcome to the 2024 Urban Forum Heading link
April 2024
As the hosts of the Urban Forum, we welcome you to UIC, a university committed to providing the broadest access to the highest levels of educational, research, and clinical excellence. From our campus in the heart of Chicago, UIC serves 33,000 students from diverse backgrounds. UIC is the only public R1 university in Chicago. We take great pride in the fact that 56% of our undergraduates are Pell recipients and that we receive more than half a billion dollars in research funding annually. We are living proof that access and excellence can and should be achieved together. The University is also home to the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA), where teaching, research, and community engagement focus on building just, resilient, and livable communities.
The participants at this year’s Urban Forum will continue our efforts to advocate for urban communities here and around the world. The university has hosted the Urban Forum since 1995, in various incarnations. But the single commonality is our work to promote the wellbeing of our urban population centers and their people. The 2024 UIC Urban Forum: “Chicago Futures” will carry on the tradition by exploring the question: what will the next 50 years bring, and how will Chicago confront the challenges of climate change, growing income inequality, and health disparities?
When the UIC Department of Urban Planning and Policy (UPP) was founded in 1973, Chicago was a very different city. This year’s Urban Forum celebrates the recent 50th anniversary of UPP with a focus on the City and its possible futures, by reflecting on its history, critiquing its present, and imagining ways planners and other urbanists can help Chicago address challenges moving forward. Urban Planning faculty had a direct hand in envisioning and planning Urban Forum, which is made evident by the program, rich with speakers who offer a broad array of perspectives, roles, and experiences in Chicago. We can think of no better way to honor this wonderful city and its deep history of planning than to collectively explore and imagine the possibilities for its future.
Thank you for attending this year’s Urban Forum and welcome to UIC.
Chicago Futures Heading link
Celebrating 50 Years of UPP
When the UIC Department of Urban Planning and Policy was founded in 1973, Chicago was a very different city. Manufacturing accounted for almost one-third of all jobs held by city residents. The Sears Tower, the tallest building in the world for the next 25 years, was completed and occupied by the headquarters of a retailer operating federated department stores across the country. The Chicago 21 Plan proposed new residential developments in the Loop to stem white flight and the hemorrhaging of businesses to manicured suburban office parks. Stevie Wonder released “Living for the City” and “Higher Ground.”
What will the next 50 years bring, and how will Chicago confront the challenges of climate change, growing income inequality and health disparities? How will a multicultural, globally-connected and polarized city with a rich legacy of city planning and architectural vernacular embrace future uncertainty? How will its population and built environment shape and be shaped by employment trends, migration patterns and environmental threats? Which neighborhoods will experience growth and which will decline?
Meet the Speakers Heading link
Click here to learn more about today’s speakers.
Event Schedule Heading link
12:00 p.m. Registration & Networking
- Box Lunch will be available
12:30 p.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Sanjeev Vidyarthi, Department Head, Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago
- Karen Colley, Provost, University of Illinois Chicago
- Joe Hoereth, Director, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, University of Illinois Chicago
12:45 p.m. Keynote Address
- Geoffrey Baer, Executive Producer/On-Air Host, WTTW
1:15 p.m. Panel Discussion:
What trends will matter most to Chicago’s well-being over the next fifty years?
Panelists:
- Ayana Contreras, Cultural historian, memory worker, radio DJ at WBEZ and archivist
- Nina Idemudia, AICP, Chief Executive Officer at Center for Neighborhood Technology
- Marisa Novara, Vice President, Community Impact, The Chicago Community Trust
- Nik Theodore, University of Illinois Chicago Distinguished Professor, Director, Center for Urban Economic Development
- Moderator: Rachel Weber, Professor, Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago
2:15 p.m. Break
2:30 p.m. Keynote Address
- Lee Bey, Architecture Critic, Chicago-Sun-Times; Author of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side
3:00 p.m. Introductory Remarks:
Interviewing a 237 Year Old Chicago
- Jacoby Cochran, Host, City Cast Chicago Educator, Storyteller, Writer
3:15 p.m. Lightning Talk Presentations
- Harish I. Patel, Vice President, Economic Security Project
- Dawveed Scully, Managing Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning and Development
- Kalindi Parikh, Strategy Director, Current
- Dominica McBride, Founder and CEO, BECOME
- Anjulie Rao, Freelance Journalist, Lecturer, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Adjunct Faculty, Illinois Institute of Technology, Columnist, ARCHITECT Magazine
- Yolanda Lawler, Program Officer, North Lawndale, Steans Family Foundation
- Jeremy Cuebas, Transportation Organizer, Northwest Center Chicago
- Chandra Christmas-Rouse, Director, Metropolitan Planning Council
- Farzaneh Khayat, Postdoc Fellow, Institute for Racial Justice, Loyola University Chicago
- Christian Diaz, Director of Equitable Community Development, Palenque LSNA
- Ayesha Qazi-Lampert, Environmental Science Educator, Chicago Public Schools
- Kelsey Zlevor, Spatial Strategist
4:30 p.m. Closing Remarks
- Brandon Johnson, Mayor of Chicago (Video Address)
- Stacey Swearingen White, Dean, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois Chicago
4:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Adjourn/Networking
5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Shuttle service to Lacuna Loft event
Credits Heading link
2024 Urban Forum Co-Chairs
- Toni Preckwinkle, President, Cook County Board
- Marie Lynn Miranda, Chancellor, University of Illinois Chicago
2024 Urban Forum Board of Advisors
- Erin Aleman, Executive Director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
- Clarence Anthony, Executive Director, National League of Cities
- MarySue Barrett, Founder, MSB Policy Consulting, LLC
- Henry Cisneros, Former Secretary, HUD; Former Mayor, San Antonio; Chairman and Co-Founder, American Triple I
- Lee Fisher, Dean, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State
- Jack Lavin, President and CEO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
- Joseph C. Szabo, President Emeritus, Historic Pullman Foundation
A special thank you to our 2024 Urban Forum Planning Team
Urban Forum Program Director
- Joe Hoereth, Director, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement
Planning Committee
- John Casey, Graduate Assistant, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
- Jessica Cortez, Administrative Assistant, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement
- Brian Flood, Senior Associate Director, University Communications
- Marty Gutierrez, Senior Director of Government Relations and Advocacy
- Em Hall, Ph.D. Candidate, Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago
- Norma Ramos, Associate Director, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement
- Joseph Roarty, Graduate Assistant, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
- Jennifer Sweeney, Associate Director, Special Events, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
- Rachel Weber, Professor, Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago
- Jasculca Terman Strategic Communications
- Moox and Haddon Studio
Thank You to Our Sponsors! Heading link
