The Burnham Plan Centennial - Bold Plans, Big Dreams

Our History Our Future

Bold New Plans

The Burnham Plan Centennial is a moment-in-time opportunity to develop Bold New Plans for a sustainable future in terms of transportation, water, energy and quality of life issues.

How are we living?

Daniel Burnham wrote, “The people of Chicago have ceased to be impressed by rapid growth or the great size of the city. What they insist on asking now is, How are we living?” This question still resonates today. Massive congestion on our roads, continual funding crises for an aging public transportation system, and ever-expanding growth patterns are causing people to ask the same question.

The Centennial year of 2009 will be a time to plan for the next century. Chicago Metropolis 2020 will produce a practical vision for investing in a dynamic 21st-century transportation system for the region and lead a campaign for its implementation. The transportation agenda that comes out of Chicago Metropolis 2020’s work – along with other agendas for water, energy, and open space that will be part of the Centennial – will help to set federal and state policy agendas.

Go To 2040 Regional Plan

The new Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) will use the Burnham Centennial as a springboard for stimulating widespread public participation in developing its GO TO 2040 regional plan – the first since Burnham’s – which will be published in 2010. Cultural events, lectures and public programs during the Centennial year will dovetail with the CMAP GO TO 2040 campaign, and will be designed to increase the public dialogue about pressing issues that get at the heart of how we live, how we travel from home to work, and how we make opportunity available throughout the region.

The Centennial will inspire our region’s communities, leaders and institutions to act boldly together to make our region one of the world’s best places to live and work.

Burnham Pavilions

Click for Regional Transportation

Architectural exhibits in Millennium Park designed by London-based Zaha Hadid and Amsterdam-based Ben van Berkel of UNStudio emphasize the importance of boldly imagining a better future for all.

Click for Burnham 2.0 program descriptionBurnham 2.0

The Chicago Architectural Club has embarked on a collaborative, multi-faceted urban planning initiative that envisions the dramatic reshaping of metropolitan Chicago and the region through a regional high-speed rail system.

Click for Go To 2040 Community Conversations program descriptionCommunity Conversations

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) wants you and your community to help build a common vision of how residents want their region to look for future generations.

The Burnham Plan Centennial
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c/o Chicago Metropolis 2020
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