Activation.
In the summer of 2021, “What Time Is It?” A Cultural & Civic Archive will facilitate civic activations in partnership with Honey Pot Performance (HPP) an Afro-diasporic feminist collaborative and the City of Chicago’s We Will Chicago, a three-year citywide planning initiative.
As part of this initiative, HPP will be activating 6 neighborhood hubs (primarily on the South and West sides) through a series of artistic interventions. “What Time Is It?” portraits will be installed in these neighborhood hubs and featured artists will be commissioned to facilitate public dialogue, performance, and creative visioning session. These activations will center around set of core questions, developed by HPP to invite brave conversations are reflections about Chicagos past, present, and future.
Core Questions:
What do we want to keep? What do we want to change?
What is urgent right now?
Communities are experiencing planning fatigue. Why another asset gathering and planning exercise? What are the incentives to participate? What do they get back? What does reciprocity look like?
How do we position artists, organizers, residents, and other local stakeholders as experts, knowledgeable contributors, and problem solvers?
Each set of performances and dialogues will be archived through photography, video, and shared on social media and online. The project will culminate in a publication which will document the portraits, performances, conversations, and recommendations for urban planning.
“We Will Chicago”
(Program description form We Will Chicago website)
ABOUT THE PROJECT
"We Will Chicago" is a new three-year, citywide planning initiative under Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot that will encourage neighborhood growth and vibrancy while addressing social and economic inequities that impair Chicago’ s legacy as a global city.
As the first citywide plan of its type since the “1966 Comprehensive Plan,” We Will’ s guiding principles will be refined in the coming months, with equity, diversity and resiliency serving as three initial fundamental goals.
Near-term efforts are expected to include a series of virtual workshops with other cities that have completed citywide plans, followed by virtual community conversations on a variety of topics that may include jobs, the changing economy, neighborhood development, the changing climate, and other subjects.
The City and its partners need your help to refine major themes, issues and policy guidelines that will be presented to Plan Commission on an ongoing basis.
WHY NOW?
Chicago's legacy as a world-class city continues to be diminished by systemic inequities that have undermined its success for decades. These social and economic disparities touch nearly every aspect of Chicago life and government.
Recent planning efforts in Chicago have been largely place- or policy-focused, limiting the City’s ability to comprehensively address systemic issues that impact different neighborhoods in different ways. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession further underscore these issues and the need for Chicago, its leaders and its citizens to develop a more equitable and strategic path forward.
I WILL. WE WILL.
“I Will” is the long-time mantra of Chicago. Its roots trace to the Great Fire of 1871, and the dogged resiliency of its citizens to rebuild, to reinvent, and to grow to new heights.
While “The City of I Will” will endure as an irreplaceable refrain from Chicago’s past, this plan will make clear who will lead the future of Chicago.
We Will. Together.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The City of Chicago, led by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD), will join its partners to launch a public engagement effort in fall 2020 to solicit feedback on the broad, overriding goals of We Will Chicago and the process for the initiative itself.
These initial steps will include dialogue with planning, corporate and community partners in other cities as well as a series of virtual topic forums for Chicago residents. For further information on these events, check back regularly or register to receive email updates from planning staff.
During the initial pre-planning phase, We Will Chicago will focus on six initial pillars for discussion.
These pillars act will act as an initial framework for discussion in upcoming community conversations, and will be refined to incorporate community priorities. Each pillar will be examined through the shared goals of equity, diversity, and resiliency to begin to envision the creation of a "People First" plan that represents and positively impacts all residents of Chicago.
HOUSING &
NEIGHBORHOODS
Accessibility
Affordability
Educational options
Food security
Safety
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Community wealth
Economic mobility
Workforce development
Liveable wage
Worker safety
TRANSPORTATION &
INFRASTRUCTURE
Broadband
Technology
Freight and logistics
Mobility
Public transit
ENVIRONMENT,
CLIMATE & ENERGY
Climate impacts
Parks and preserves
Waste
Green workforce
ARTS &
CULTURE
Public facilities
Public programming
Public space
PUBLIC HEALTH &
WELLNESS
Emergency management
Public health
Public safety
Urban agriculture
Civic responsibility