Energy & the Environment
Introduction
Accelerating energy consumption, climate change, resource extraction and the demands of a growing global population have put stress on the natural environment causing climate change, deforestation, ecosystem damage, and polluted natural environments. The impact of environmental degradation is not evenly absorbed across nations, regions, or communities and often, marginalized groups most ill-equipped to cope with environmental issues, bear the greatest burdens.
GCI’s Energy and the Environment Research Cluster supports research pertaining to local and global issues of environmental justice, natural resource preservation, the relationship between the natural and built environment, and policies that promote a sustainable future. GCI’s work on Energy and the Environment considers the ramifications of environmental degradation and supports progressive policies that promote sustainable community development.
Cluster Reports
Below is a collection of reports associated with GCI’s Energy & the Environment Research Cluster.
Summary
Prepared by the Great Cities Institute and UIC’s Freshwater Lab for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (2023), this report examines the growing imbalance between flooding and water scarcity in northeastern Illinois. It explores water recycling as adaptive infrastructure to address climate pressures, uneven water geography, and rising demand. The interdisciplinary study analyzes technical, environmental, and public health considerations, provides a cost-benefit analysis, and outlines policy and planning strategies. It concludes that large-scale water reuse can help balance flooding and drought while supporting economic development and long-term water sustainability.
Summary
The 100th Street Calumet River Access Concept Plan (2023) outlines a vision to transform a riverfront site between 96th and 100th Streets on Chicago’s Southeast Side into a publicly accessible community recreation space. Building on more than two decades of community interest and organizing around river access, the plan proposes restoring the natural riverbank habitat, developing a pedestrian trail, and creating a public viewing area for river activity. The project seeks to expand public access to the Calumet River while connecting the site to the broader network of transportation, environmental, and recreational infrastructure across the Southeast Side. The plan also emphasizes community engagement and environmental stewardship as key components guiding the site’s future development.
Summary
This Great Cities Institute report presents a planning framework to address environmental, social, and economic challenges along the Calumet River on Chicago’s Southeast Side. Covering South Chicago, East Side, and South Deering, the study combines demographic data, land use analysis, and community input gathered through interviews and engagement events. Residents emphasized public health, environmental remediation, equitable access to resources, and local economic development. The report outlines strategies for pollution cleanup, expanded public health resources, improved housing and transit access, and sustainable economic development tied to the Calumet Industrial Corridor and Commercial Avenue.
Summary
This report examines the working conditions of day laborers involved in Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts in Houston. Based on a survey of 361 informally employed construction workers conducted weeks after the 2017 storm, the study highlights the critical role immigrant day laborers play as “second responders” in debris removal, demolition, and rebuilding. Findings reveal widespread substandard labor conditions affecting wages, health, and safety. The report underscores the vulnerability of this workforce and offers policy recommendations to improve labor protections and working conditions during post-disaster recovery operations.
Cluster Videos
Held virtually on October 26, 2021, this event commemorated the 30th anniversary of the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, a landmark moment in the environmental justice movement. Centering women of color, the program honored leaders whose work has advanced Indigenous land protection, labor and civil rights, public health, and community self-determination.
Cluster Videos
The Freshwater Lab and UIC’s Great Cities Institute co-hosted Latino Environmental Justice Leadership Along Industrial Waterways, bringing together community leaders to discuss industrial waterways, public health, advocacy, and environmental justice across the Chicago region. Part of the Crossing Latinidades initiative, the event highlighted community leadership, collaboration, and ongoing environmental justice efforts.
Cluster Videos
This Crossing Latinidades webinar brings together scholars from three universities to explore how Latino communities experience and respond to climate change and environmental injustice. Moderated by Teresa Córdova, the discussion highlights community-based research across Chicago, North Texas, Southern California, Illinois’ river corridors, and Puerto Rico, emphasizing resilience, storytelling, placekeeping, and environmental justice. For more information, please click here.
Cluster Videos
On May 4, 2020, UIC’s Great Cities Institute and Center for Global Health convened Climate Justice Meets Global Health in the Time of COVID-19, bringing together scholars, clinicians, and environmental justice leaders. The forum examined how climate change, pollution, inequality, and public health crises intersect, emphasizing community-led solutions, equitable policy, and justice-centered approaches to building healthier, more resilient cities.
Cluster Videos
As part of the Real Time Chicago Lecture Series, the Great Cities Institute hosted Michael Mencarini and Natalie Burgos of the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program on February 16, 2021. The event explored how RTCA supports community partners in Chicago and across the Midwest in advancing outdoor recreation, neighborhood planning, and natural resource conservation projects.
Cluster Videos
As part of the Cities Across the Globe Lecture Series, José Rivera’s session examines water scarcity, climate change, irrigation traditions, and competing demands across the Rio Grande watershed. Drawing on acequia systems, regional development, declining snowpack, and contemporary water planning, Rivera advocates for shared approaches to water governance that recognize watersheds, community ditches, and long-standing water rights as interconnected commons.
Cluster Projects
Great Cities, Great Rivers Initiative
Great Cities Institute has embarked on its Great Cities, Great Rivers Initiative to promote innovation districts and community planning for economic and community development in the regions of the Calumet River and the South Branch of the Chicago River. By building partnerships and providing technical assistance, GCI works alongside stakeholders in the region to produce community plans and provide technical assistance and analysis.
National Park Service – Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program partners with GCI: Throughout 2016 the National Park Service (NPS) is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding. Heralded by writer and historian Wallace Stegner as “the best idea we ever had,” the National Park Service is the federal agency responsible for overseeing more than 84 million acres of wilderness, national monuments, protected lakeshores, and scenic rivers and trails. Since April 2016, a Community Planner from the National Park Service – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program has been located within the GCI office.
Sustainable Coastal Community Development Initiative
The Sustainable Coastal Community Development initiative of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program supports and guides this GCI program, providing academic research and technical assistance to local governments and planning agencies within northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana.
Retired GCI Fellow and Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Policy, Martin Jaffe, was the principal investigator and coordinator of this research and worked in collaboration with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission, non-profit organizations (such as Chicago Wilderness, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology), as well as federal, state and local officials. Sea Grant’s Sustainable Coastal Community Development initiative addresses a wide variety of emerging environmental issues affecting the Chicago metro area, such as regional water supply planning, innovative approaches to water quality management (including the use of computer models to identify environmental “tipping points” for urban waterways), the use of green infrastructure for urban stormwater management, habitat protection, and climate change adaptation at the state, regional and local levels of government. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is committed to both protecting and enhancing the wide range of environmental and ecosystem services provided to communities in the lower Lake Michigan basin.
Feasibility & Efficiency Analysis of Neighborhood-Based Sustainable Food Waste Management
In “Feasibility & Efficiency Analysis of Neighborhood-Based Sustainable Food Waste Management” Professors Ning Ai and Isabel Cruz compare data from previous food waste studies conducted at UIC and across the Chicago metropolitan region, integrating state-of-art knowledge from the distinct fields of urban planning and computer science. Their comparison includes consideration of differences in the methodologies of these studies in order to further refine models and parameters for future studies. In addition, they expand Dr. Cruz’s framework for spatial and temporal data integration, GIVA, in order to address the unique challenges of the project.
Environmental Justice
Great Cities Institute supports the work of environmental justice organizations by providing technical support and by hosting meetings. GCI hosted Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LEVJO), Natural Resources Defence Council, and VOCES Latino Leadership in Action to discuss the impact of Latinos on environmental justice and climate change action in the U.S. on March 7, 2014. In Fall 2016, GCI hosted the newly formed Midwest Network for Environmental Justice.