Spring Planning Colloquium: Assessing the Benefits of Chicago's Large Lot Program
William Stewart, Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, UIUC
Tuesday, April 5, 1-1:50 PM, Rm 223 Temple Buell Hall
This presentation highlights the impact of Chicago’s Large Lot Program, and transitions to a future study connecting public health outcomes to the We Will Chicago planning initiative. The Large Lot Program allows qualifying property owners to purchase city-owned vacant lots on their block for $1 for green space and developed uses (https://largelots.org/ ). The We Will Chicago planning process (https://wewillchicago.com/ ) is the first city wide plan since 1966, and involves extensive community engagement with guiding principles, in part, to enhance health outcomes and reduce health disparities. The presentation overviews results of the impacts of the Large Lot Program and guides discussion to connect the We Will Chicago process to public health outcomes. Our proposed research questions include: To what extent is urban vacancy associated with health outcomes? To what extent is the Large Lot Program associated with better health outcomes?