[Phillips is the chief executive officer of the Urban Land Institute. His organization celebrates its 75th Anniversary today.]
In this post-recession environment, much is being made about great forces of change – population and demographic shifts, economic drivers, environmental concerns – that will dramatically reshape community building for the rest of the century. However, as dramatic as this change is, the land use industry faced circumstances just as daunting in early part of the 20th century.
Seventy-five years ago, on December 14, 1936, the Urban Land Institute was chartered in Chicago, during a time of great uncertainty in financial markets, shifting economic growth engines, changing demographics and household composition, and an ongoing influx of immigrants. Cities around the country were trying to recover from the Great Depression and position themselves as leaders in an economy then dominated by manufacturing. They were grappling with inner-city neighborhoods in decay as well as new suburbs that would soon face rapid growth.
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