Third annual Urban October to highlight how UChicago is reimagining cities, urban life

This month marks the third annual Urban October at the University of Chicago, bringing together University researchers and practitioners, as well as leading policymakers and advocates to contemplate a better, more sustainable future for Chicago and cities around the globe.

At the onset of the pandemic, many pundits questioned whether cities would be permanently set back by the unique challenges posed by the need to mitigate disease spread in densely populated areas, with some even wondering if cities would survive. Yet in 2021, we’ve seen a resurgence globally for urban life and experts wonder if this moment in time can be an inflection point in a journey toward a more equitable, sustainable cities for all residents.

In partnership with UN-Habitat, originator of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for all cities—which include combatting poverty and violence, ensuring access to affordable housing and confronting climate change—UChicago urban experts will join leaders in the space to discuss whether Chicago and other cities can reach these ambitious goals by the United Nations’ 2030 deadline, and whether COVID-19 has hastened progress or hurt it.

The following virtual and in-person events will be happening across campus:

• Tuesday, Oct. 12: “Urban October: Sinking Chicago.” Register here.
• Wednesday, Oct. 13: “Gentrification, Educational Inequality, and the Future of Urban Schooling,” presented with the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation. Register here. 
• Saturday, Oct. 16: Chicago Humanities Day. Register for the full event here.
• Wednesday, Oct. 20: “Confronting Trauma to Break the Cycle of Violence” live Zoom event, featuring Moms Demand Action’ Shannon Watts, UChicago Medicine’s Dr. Selwyn Rogers, Crown Family School’s Franklin Cosey-Gay and moderated by Lakeidra Chavis of the Marshall Project. Register here.
• Wednesday, Oct. 27: Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation Urban October capstone lunch colloquium. Register here.

Additionally, throughout October, the UChicago Urban Network will be partnering with WTTW’s Chicago Tonight to highlight to a broader Chicago and civic audience the critical issues of urban innovation, anti-poverty programs and human infrastructure, climate change, and the intersection of confronting trauma and violence prevention. The first of these panels is scheduled to air Oct. 5.