URBAN DESIGN
A New System of Green Promenades
In 1909, Daniel Burnham looked at Chicago and saw a city of potential. One of the components of his plan was connect the city and the forest preserves with each other by parkways and boulevards. When writing, Burnham saw the automobile as a recreational vehicle that would allow city dwellers to visit the forest preserves and countryside; he did not foresee how cars would overwhelm and transform the city itself. One hundred and seventeen years later, we have the opportunity to adjust our city and think big again. The New System of Green Promenades is in line with Burnham's vision, updated for where Chicago could be in 2050, and beyond. It proposes to create car-free promenades that allow city dwellers to visit the forest preserves and Lake Michigan in a comfortable, safe, and relaxing way.
By transforming every fourth east-west arterial road in the city into a linear park – The Green Promenade – Chicago can create a network of green “spines” from Lake Michigan in the east to the Forest Preserves in the west. This is not just ‘greening the city with some trees’; it is a fundamental reimagining of Chicago's infrastructure to prioritize creating places where people can meet, stroll, discover local businesses, and relax in a tree-rich environment. These promenades will be quieter without cars, but more vibrant with all the people out and about.
To ensure the network serves the entire city, Green Connectors will develop on the arterial that is two miles away from the promenades. These Connectors are also linear parks, but include rapid buses. With an ambitious long-term goal of creating a Promenade or Connector every two miles, this system makes sure that no resident is far from a green space, creating a consistent rhythm of nature and mobility from north to south.
This vision is also a great opportunity to get ahead and change Chicago in a world that is moving rapidly towards online everything: work, social life, dating, shopping, deliveries. Green Promenades is the opposite. I think that people live in Chicago for other reasons than ‘being online’ and that the city needs to invest heavily in developing attractive places in neighborhoods, just like it did with Millennium Park in downtown. People live in Chicago to enjoy the incredible architecture, to meet other people, to run into neighbors, to say hello to an overenthusiastic dog, to discover new stores, restaurants, and places. The best way to do that, is not online but by walking or cycling in attractive public spaces where you meet others – people you know and not know yet. In places designed for people of all ages, all year through. Chicago has plenty of east-west running streets, so changing a couple doesn’t have to impact traffic that much. It might actually make it more attractive and inviting to walk or cycle somewhere, and not use a car.
Location
Client
Year
Type
Chicago, IL
World Business Chicago
2026
Competition / Research
Contact
Thinking of a project? I'd love to collaborate.
Send me an email at mail@arjanjager.com to see how we can work together.