We Will Chicago Citywide Framework Plan
A 10-year framework for citywide growth and vibrancy, We Will Chicago is 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 of its residents.
Approved by the Chicago Plan Commission after three years of intensive neighborhood-based and virtual public engagement, “We Will Chicago” consists of more than 40 goals and 150 objectives to guide the City’s governance across eight “planning pillars” for the next decade. The pillars include Housing & Neighborhoods; Arts & Culture; Environment, Climate & Energy; Lifelong Learning; Public Health & Safety; Transportation & Infrastructure; Civic & Community Engagement; and Economic Development.
Pillar goals and objectives were created by research teams that identified Chicago’s most pressing needs since the last citywide plan of 1966, including the challenges of urban renewal, loss of public housing, school closures, vacant lots and more. Research teams consisted of a diverse group of over 115 resident volunteers, 25 community-based organizations, and 100 city staff selected through a citywide open application process in 2021. Each goal includes multiple objectives to realize progress over time, as well as baseline data on social, health, and economic inequities to monitor throughout implementation.
WE WILL CHICAGO DOCUMENTS
- Adopted We Will Chicago Framework Plan
- Implementation Starter Guide
- We Will Chicago in Action
- Inventory of Past Plans
Thank you, Chicago, for supporting the citywide plan!
The We Will Chicago Summer of Engagement centered around gathering quantitative feedback from Chicagoans regarding the draft citywide framework plan. From participation at street festivals to virtual and in-person information meetings, the Department of Planning and Development team and consultants successfully reached more than 10,000 individuals with the surveys, and many more through engagement. Read about the results of the We Will Chicago surveys and other feedback received during the public comment period.
NEXT STEPS FOR WE WILL CHICAGO
Artist Engagement
The City will continue engaging with local artists during the implementation phase and other city and civic processes. In Spring 2023, five funded artist projects will interpret, explore, and bring to life the plan's goals and objectives. Peregrine Bermas, Jonathan Michael Castillo, Yaritza Guillen and Natalie Perkins, Congo Square Theatre Company, and Mobile Makers Chicago—in collaboration with partners from the planning process, their own networks, and the public—will develop works responding to the pillars and other themes throughout the plan.
Stay tuned for more details about how to get involved.