Visions for 2050
A signature initiative of World Business Chicago focused on surfacing, sharing, and advancing bold ideas for Chicago’s future.
ANNOUNCING THE HORIZON LINES WINNERS
Co-winners: Green City Rising and Wonderways!
Green City Rising and Wonderways! have been named co-winners of the 2026 Horizon Lines competition. Together, they complete a vision Chicago has chased since Urbs in Horto — “city in a garden” — became our motto: a place where nature and city life grow side by side.
Green City Rising, led by the Morton Arboretum, builds neighborhood arboreta shaped by the residents who live around them, rooting climate resilience in local ownership.
Wonderways! by MKSK turns Chicago’s 28-mile boulevard system into connected green infrastructure, cooling neighborhoods, managing stormwater and linking communities on foot and by bike.
One provides the spine. The other, the roots. Together, they aim to grow what Urbs in Horto started.
Explore Green City Rising Explore Wonderways!
Top Visions
Nearly 200 ideas came in from across Chicago and beyond. Six finalist Top Visions were selected as bold, imaginative and deeply Chicago ideas that ask what our city can become by mid-century.
Explore the other finalists below, then visit the public exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center Welcome Center, on view through October 11.
Agriflats Hiding in Plain Sight: The Third Frontage Initiative Reconnecting Communities Green City Rising RE-LOOP: THE LIVING MILE WONDERWAYS!
Notable Visions and Neighborhood Visions
In addition to the six Top Visions, the jury recognized the submissions that stood out for their creativity, purpose, and connection to the community. Together, these projects reflect ideas rooted in Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods and speak to a shared future that is inclusive, equitable, and shaped by people across the city.
Horizon Lines: Notable Visions Horizon Lines: Best Neighborhood VisionsRead the Chicago 2050 Essays
How do you picture Chicago in 2050?
Voices from around the city explored what Chicago could and should look like in 2050 in a series of essays. These pieces were published each Sunday through May 10 in the Chicago Tribune.
This collection represents a collaboration between Tribune Opinion and World Business Chicago, whose Horizon Lines: Visions for Chicago 2050 initiative also includes a design competition inviting the public to share the bold ideas and civic investments Chicago could make in the next 25 years.
Mary Schmich writes her dreams for the future of her ‘complete city’
Tonika Lewis Johnson imagines a city skyline that bridges racial dividing lines
Tracy Baim writes about the city’s next transformational ‘Great Migration’
Laura Washington wants to bring glittering downtown institutions to the city’s neighborhoods
Daniel Holz writes about pursuing progress and avoiding doomsday
IDOT’s secretary Gia Biagi writes about the future of transportation in ‘The City that Works’
Ashish Sharma on how the city will learn to live with weather
Poet Leslé Honoré envisions an ‘Emerald City’ in our future
Stacy Davis Gates writes on how CPS will be rooted in sustainability in 25 years
David Awschalom on the future of quantum technologies
Alaina Harkness on a thriving city based on water
Glenn Davis writes on the abundant future of Chicago theater
Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert on the importance of Chicagoans’ civic life
Valerie Jarrett on the Obama Presidential Center as a unique catalyst for change
Broadway in Chicago CEO Lou Raizin on a city guided forward by culture
Mayor Brandon Johnson on building the city for a bright future
Exhibit extended through October 11
View the winners, Top Visions, notable and neighborhood visions on display through October 11 at the Welcome Center, Chicago Cultural Center. The exhibit is free and open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.