In this Great Cities Institute podcast, Ed Uhlir explores Millennium Park’s future by explaining its creation, its successes, and the factors that will affect its continued prosperity. In particular, he discusses the history of the park site, the Mayor’s vision, the involvement of various artists, architects and landscape designers, and the public/private financing model pioneered there. This background information provides the foundation for thinking about the Park in a post-Daley era. How will the Park be maintained, what kinds of programming should take place there, and what kinds of economic impacts will it have?
Ed Uhlir was the Director of Research and Planning at the Chicago Park District until his appointment in 1998 by Mayor Richard M. Daley as the Director of Design of the Millennium Park Project. He is a consultant and President of Uhlir Consulting LLC and the Executive Director of Millennium Park Incorporated (MPI). He also is an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, the Secretary of NeighborSpace, a land trust for community gardens, a member of Mayor Daley’s Parks and Open Space Committee, and a board member of the City Parks Alliance.
Listen to Uhlir's lecture here
Listen to the questions and answers section of Uhlir's lecture here
