A 30-year Black-white life expectancy gap, increasing housing expenses and evictions, and frequent flooding and heat waves plague the city of Chicago. Efforts to address both immediate consequences and long-term needs demand robust response and preventative measures, more specifically pertaining to the design of the city. The City of Chicago (City) showcases programs, policies, and investments intended to serve residents and strengthen communities, yet their outcomes are often disproportionately burdensome on low-income residents and BIPOC communities. As the City advances initiatives like INVEST South/West, it must acknowledge contributions of harm and actively ensure future development and investment is driven by community voice.
Cumulative impact assessments (CIAs) are a dynamic and routine evaluation tool purposed to guide city planning and economic development related to physical design and efforts to address related community needs. Similar siloed initiatives have been historically pioneered by public health and environmental agencies and racial equity groups assessing the impact of projects and programs on the health of individuals. Topics of analysis range from air and water quality and contaminated soil to chronic stress, the inability to afford prescription drugs, or assessing the combined impacts of redlining.
The City can adopt a comprehensive, cross-discipline approach to planning by identifying social, economic, psychological, environmental, and political factors that influence the quality of life of Chicagoland residents. In 2013, Just Health Action published a Cumulative Health Impact Analysis of Seattle’s Duwamish Valley that utilized indicators to calculate and highlight communities disproportionately overburdened by adverse health impacts and environmental injustices. These findings then served as pressure points to operationalize strategic action and investment needed to address inequities.
The Chicago Department of Health (CDPH) and Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) have advanced this work in assembling a collaborative working group and assessing best practices across sectors. CDPH and OERJ are currently crafting a versatile toolkit purposed for pilot opportunities across city-wide initiatives, accounting for various levels of understanding surrounding the practice of building equity. As a crucial opportunity for feedback, the tool ought to be built on investigative questions ranging from “how is the policy or program resolving the communal need?" to "what are the benefits and who is most likely to receive them?”. Even so, the development of the metrics, benchmarks, and outcomes must be led by community voice. As the City reimagines and mobilizes development within Chicagoland region, it is imperative to create solutions amongst an ecosystem of user voice and direction, evaluation, and accountability.
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