Chicago Charrete_Master of City Design Program viewbook by uiccuppa

Master of City Design Program

CHICAGO CHARRETTE

ABOUT MASTER OF CITY DESIGN PROGRAM

About UIC College of Urban Planning and Policy, City Design Program

The Master of City Design (MCD) program is offered by the Department of Urban Planning and Policy (UPP). UPP’s mission is to conduct radical and engaged scholarship that contributes to promoting just, resilient, and livable neighborhoods, cities, and urban regions. The MCD program extends this mission through its distinctive and intensive studio-based socio and ecological curriculum at the project, city-wide, and subregion-scale urban design promoting just cities.

The Master of City Design (MCD) is an intensive graduate degree focuses on the built environment and addresses pressing racial, spatial, and climatic inequality issues in Chicago. Students learn how to plan for the physical design of cities using spatial and systems thinking that combines analyses of places, meaningful engagement with diverse communities, ecological needs of the changing climate and non- human species, design knowledge across scales, and justice-centered approaches to city design. Hands-on field based studio learning provides immersive exposure to integrated, interdisciplinary design approaches and professional practice in urban places across Chicago. Our diverse and interdisciplinary curriculum integrates urban design with climate science, community economic development, environmental planning, public policy, and transportation equity. This approach leverages UIC’s location in the center of a major global city where MCD addresses critical challenges such as: climate change, housing crises, and spatial and racial inequality through reparative approaches that redress harm and promote just, resilient, and inclusive communities.

Our approach to city design

MCD provides an immersive learning experience through field-based studios, design charrettes, and engagement with local place-based organizations, progressive design and planning firms, and institutional civic engagement partners. Working collaboratively, students codesign community engagement to inform plan making, and built environment design solutions from the ground up.

Rewilding Nature

MCD studios look at issues holistically, foregrounding coexistence. The planet’s environmental challenges are reflected in the everyday lives of humans and other species in neighborhoods, cities, and urban regions. Systems analysis is critical to developing integrative, inclusive, and adaptable design thinking for Chicago’s future. Students research strategies that reestablish healthy urban ecosystems and habitats, reconnect fragmented prairies and waterways, and pursue a balance of humans and nature.

Improving Waterways

Restoring Wetlands

MCD offers curriculum that examines the affordable housing crisis and aims to offer design and policy solutions that support healthy and inclusive communities, collective land ownership, community wealth building, equitable transit oriented development, and development without displacement.

MCD approaches critical urban issues of racial and spatial inequality through a reparative lens that aims to redress harm of racist planning practices through racial equity, redistributive and just city design, spatial reparations, and cultural inclusion and curation.

Building Green Industries Connecting Trails

Curriculum & Schedule

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Core City Design Courses

Theories of Urban Design

In Theories of City Design students explore various scholarly traditions and theories, along with their critical counterparts, to understand the development of the city design field from multiple perspectives. Simultaneously, they learn to apply these theories and ideas to analyze, deconstruct, and critically engage with contemporary urban issues and pressing challenges. By integrating abstract concepts with ‘real-world’ immersive experiences, students can connect specific trends in modern urban design with the field’s historical development. In a truly intersectional fashion, the course structure challenges exclusive pedagogies by broadening the scope of topics and materials to foster global comparative thinking and include underrepresented scholarship.

Global Urbanization and Planning

This course focuses on various aspects of urban development and planning in cities within developing countries. It begins with analyzing common challenges in these metropolitan regions, examining settlement patterns and urban systems across different areas. The goal is to establish a broad understanding of planning concepts, urban trends, and terminology relevant to the rapidly expanding cities worldwide. Attention is also given to specific issues in representative cities from regions such as Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Key topics include water and sanitation, health, transportation and infrastructure, historic preservation, urban redevelopment pressures, disaster risk reduction, and housing.

Urban Spatial Analysis and Visualization

In this Lab, students explore visualization tools and skills for digital modeling and exploration of diverse urban contexts and local places using maps, images, spatial data and software, such as 2D and 3D GIS, 3D Max, CityEngine, Rhino3D and SketchUp, through applied projects focused upon spatial analysis and visualization for urban design.

Regional

Green Roof Masterplan

Reimagined Infrastructure

Waterway Adjacencies

Opportunity areas for green roof development and financial and tax incentive recommendations. Opportunities and challenges along the river corridor. Proposed landscapes and design recommendations.

Re-imagined infrastrucure connections along abandoned and exisitng railway corridors and utility lines.

City Design Studios

Urban Edge Studio

Explores the physical design, spatial interventions, and redevelopment efforts in Chicago neighborhoods. Students comprehensively explore urban communities to understand historical patterns of segregation and disinvestment and current conditions to address critical issues of racial and spatial inequality such as design deserts, gentrification and displacement, and infrastructural repair. An important aspect

Great Cities Studio

The Great Cities Studios have tackled the issue of climate adaptation through Chicago’s iconic urban design settlement patterns, questioning whether the city’s 19th- and 20th-century systems can accommodate the demands of new climatic and environmental crises. These studios have proposed flexible solutions to downtown flash flooding through a Cloudburst plan and have reimagined the existing arterial systems and ecological corridors on the South

Chicago Charrette

MCD summer capstone studio aka ‘Chicago Charrette’ offers a hands-on field-based immersive environment for learning the craft of community engagement at the intermediate urban scale. Working with seasoned scholars, professional practitioners, engaged residents, and community organizers, students learn how to conceive purposeful participatory strategies inviting the engagement of diverse place-based communities for co-creating meaningful design solutions. Students pay special attention to learn intercultural aspects

of this process is incorporating the lived experiences of community stakeholders in the plan making process to ground design work that centers the needs of existing residents. Students work collaboratively with community partners to co-design the plan making process and design proposals through relevant engagement strategies.

Side of Chicago through new “Overrides.” Students have developed new literacies in climate and environmental sciences, prompting a reimagining of the traditional toolkits used in classic urban design paradigms. Parks, street systems, and shoreline treatments have been examined as elements of the city, with the aim of understanding how new patterns of co-existence could emerge through repurposing.

of community-based planning and design practice, exploring how planners can work better with diverse communities in culturally competent ways. Throughout the course, we explore and employ a broad spectrum of public engagement strategies including community surveys, pop ups, design charrette, focus groups, and community conversations, - leading finally to a co- created plan showcasing the ideal of community empowerment via meaningful design.

Madison for Everyone: A Design Framework for Madison Street in Oak Park (Fall 2022)

Chicago Knee Deep: Making Room for Water Resiliency in Chicago (Spring 2022)

Think Like a City: A Framework for Remaking Places (Summer 2024)

Co-designed Community Engagement + Planning

MCD summer studio aka ‘Chicago Charrette’ offers a hands-on field-based immersive environment for learning the craft of community engagement working with various community partners to co-design meaningful design solutions. Students learn how urban planners and city designers identify potential opportunities for civic improvement and utilize diverse techniques to invite the engagement of community members and relevant stakeholders into the plan-making process.

Probing the various meanings and definitions of ‘participation’and ‘community,’ such efforts often require a rethinking of planners’ traditional roles and conventional methods. Students explore and employ a broad spectrum of public engagement strategies - from the one-way process of soliciting information through careful consultation, to active collaboration in the plan-making process, leading finally to a co-created plan showcasing the ideal of community empowerment via meaningful design.

Working closely with a variety of community, professional and institutional partners such as the UIC Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement, (IPCE), Design Workshop, and Muse Community Design, design efforts span various built environment topics such as public infrastructure / civic realm improvement projects, district plans, climate adaptation plans, corridor plans, and neighborhood revitalization plans.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this studio, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of community engagement methods and pertinent practices for pursuing an applied planning / city design project. The following are overall learning objectives of the course:

• Demonstrate an understanding of various theories, models and methods of public engagement and participatory planning processes;

• Be able to reflect on the influence of your identity on your own thinking and preferences, implicit biases and cultural competencies for working in intercultural environments;

• Exhibit knowledge of various public participation techniques helpful to design and pursue participatory planning processes;

• Be able to identify resources and organize the logistics for conducting a design charrette;

• Be able to undertake a participatory planning process inviting takeholders’ involvement for developing a community driven plan via residents’ input and feedback; and

• Demonstrate knowledge of meaningful engagement with communities and planning actors in public settings

Who is the Chicago Charrette for?

The Chicago Charrette is open to UIC and non-UIC students who want to learn the craft of community engagement and work with a wide variety of stakeholders on the ground. Students from a wide range of disciplines such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban studies, urban planning, civil engineering, real estate, geography, environmental studies, fine arts, and related disciplines can enroll in the studio.

Chicago Charrette

Street as the ‘Neighborhood Main Street’

Calle 35 como la ‘Calle Principal del Barrio’

35th Street

Codesigning Neighborhood Improvements with McKinley Park Neighbors

design concept conceptualizes 35th

McKinley Park’s bustling street concentrations of activity at certain intersections from Archer to Ashland. concept integrates elements of art-activated alleyways, a linear park, sidewalks, community spaces, pedestrian crossings, and food trucks. strategic additions can help small business development community well-being.

concepto de diseño conceptualiza la como la calle llena de movimiento McKinley Park con concentraciones actividad en ciertas intersecciones Avenida Archer hasta la Ashland. El concepto integra elementos de callejones activados arte, un parque lineal, aceras extendidas, espacios comunitarios, peatonales y camiones de Estas adiciones estratégicas ayudar a promover el desarrollo pequeñas empresas y el bienestar comunidad.

These capstone studios centered around the critical notion of improving the quality of public open spaces for everyone, the summer 2022 and 2023 Chicago Charrette focused on engaging with the community of McKinley Park in partnership with a wide range of relevant stakeholders including the McKinley Park Development Council (MPDC) as lead community partner, the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE), and Design Workshop. The project focused on developing plans for three different public infrastructure improvement projects along 35th Street within the larger McKinley Park neighborhood. During studio, students worked intensely using a variety of participatory tools and engagement techniques to better understand the preferences and desires of community stakeholders through a series of events 7 ranging from popup events; open houses at local community space; a Charrette, and a community conversation and showcase.

我们的设计概念将第35街构想为麦金利公园繁忙的街道，将重点放在从Archer to Street 的某些路口上。该概念结合了艺术激活的小巷、线性公园、拓宽人行道、社区空间、人行横道和移动餐车的元素。这些概念有助于促进小型企业发展和社

Reimagined:

35th Street as the ‘Neighborhood Main Street’ Calle 35 como la ‘Calle Principal del Barrio’

35th Street as the ‘Neighborhood Main Street’ Calle 35 como la ‘Calle Principal del Barrio’ 第35街作为

The visualizations showcase a vibrant streetscape with small businesses, interactive public spaces, and protected bike lanes, providing the necessary community spaces for the neighborhood.

Las visualizaciones muestran un paisaje urbano vibrante con pequeñas empresas, espacios públicos interactivos y carriles para bicicletas protegidos, que brindan los espacios comunitarios necesarios para el barrio.

这里展示了一个充满活力的街景，拥有小型企业、互动式公共空间和安全的骑车道，以及为社区提供必要的邻里空间。

Think Like a City: A Framework for Remaking Places (Spring 2024)

This studio focused on the long-range future of the Illinois Medical District, a large, 600-acre medical district, two miles west of downtown Chicago. Students researched the +100 year evolution of the district, its traditional land use patterns, the urban renewal shortcomings of the mid twentieth century, and the identification of strategies for the next 50 years to repair and strengthen the role this District plays in Chicago. Students collaborated closely with the Illinois Medical District client team to develop a collection of strategies, which redefined the settings for the existing medical institutions and medical schools while exploring the blurring of the edges of the district with surrounding, established neighborhoods. Special emphasis was placed on the transformation of the district into a more mixed, livable, community serving environment, which integrates placemaking and reparative planning.

Think Like a City: A Framework for Remaking Places (Summer 2024)

This capstone studio was done in collaboration with the Great Cities studio to build on their design work, which, reimagined the Illinois Medical District (IMD). Students worked closely with IMDC, Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE), Design Workshop, and local stakeholders to co-design a community engagement process to understand user preferences of initial design proposals. Students gathered input from the diverse daily population within the IMD through various engagement activities such as a community- based survey, pop up events, focus groups, and Charrette. Utilizing broader community feedback, students refined design concepts and adopted a holistic approach centering principles of reparative planning that balanced institutional needs, while also fostering community healing and design justice.

We Invite you to learn more about our three Chicago Charrette programs!

MCD offers an interdisciplinary program with diverse faculty who are committed to addressing critical issues of racial and spatial justice through community driven design, ecological systems change, affordable and inclusive communities, and reparative planning. The Chicago Charrette capstone studio culminates the MCD program and offers students an opportunity to work on the ground with community stakeholders to co-design built environment solutions. We invite you to learn more about the three Chicago Charrette program options –including the enrollment and financial aid process.

Option 1: 4-week summer program for UIC and UIUC students

Option 1 is open to all UIC students for the 4-week summer session. Register at my.uic.edu

*University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign (UIUC) students can enroll through the Intercampus Registration Program: https://www.uaps.uillinois.edu/student_programs/intercampus_registration

Option 2: 16-week fall or spring program for UIC students

Option 2 is open to all UIC students for the 16-week fall or spring sessions. Register at my.uic.edu

Option 3: 5-6 week summer program for non-UIC students

OVERVIEW

Programs for International Partnerships (PIP) is dedicated to assisting the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in developing educational programs for students worldwide while expanding UIC’s international presence. PIP develops and supports programs that are academically excellent and that enhance UIC’s global reputation as an academic and professional development destination.

PIP will coordinate the 5-week summer Chicago Charrette for nonUIC students. Students will attend on- campus in-classroom studio for a maximum of 15 hours per week. Time spent on off-campus site visits, professional visits, and social / cultural events is not subject to a maximum number of hours per week.

Students will be encouraged to live on-campus in the ARC residence hall. This has demonstrated to be the more cost-efficient option for students for our populations. This option requires a meal plan to allow students to eat on-campus. Students, however, will have the option to choose other locations for their stay such as Tailor Lofts, UIC Guest Housing, and local hotels that offer discounts to UIC. PIP will assist students in locating housing for the program.

Based on the information from the most-recent Charette schedule, there are 21 on-campus/in-class meetings and five site visits. This is subject to change based on the needs of the partners and their academic calendars.

PIP will arrange for airport transfer as the start and end of the program. Participants will be encouraged to travel as a group, when possible. If students arrive individually, transportation will also be arranged by PIP.

Students will be required to purchase CTA transit passes to be used to travel to site visits, as well as for their personal use during their stay. This expense was not included in the budget breakdown below. However, as PIP has done in the past, we can purchase the passes for the participants and add this cost to an updated budget. Group transportation, such as vans or buses, can be arranged for long-distance site visits or social/cultural events. These amounts are not listed in the expenses below.

Following the program, participants will be awarded a “Certificate of Completion” signed by the Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Head of Urban Planning and Policy.

PIP will host the participants and Charette and PIP staff to welcome and farewell lunches. Other meals will be at the participant’s expense.

Option 3A: Charrette Fees without housing

PIP will host the students to one social/cultural activity each week of the Charette. In the past, this have included the Architectural River Cruise, events in Millenium Park, visits to the beach, visits to Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, and outlet mall shopping. PIP will survey the group to see if there is a particular event of interest and make arrangements, when possible.

3A: Charrette Fees without

Option 3B: Charrette Fees with housing

You will find additional resources and next steps here.

Graduate Tuition and Fees

For more information, visit https://admissions.uic.edu/graduate-professional/tuition-fees

Financial Aid

For more information, visit https://cuppa.uic.edu/academics/upp/upp-programs/master-of-city-design/

Contact Information

Dr. April Jackson, Director City Design, Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Policy: ajacks29@uic.edu

Erica Mann, Academic Graduate Advisor, Urban Planning and Policy: elmann@uic.edu

Jeff Wang, Director of Programs for International Partnerships: jwang7@uic.edu

Christopher Biehl, Associate Director of Programs for International Partnerships: cbiehl@uic.edu

Our next enrollment cycle is for fall 2026. Scan the QR to learn more.