News Updates

The Century Plan Grand Challenges: Focusing where regional action matters most

Regional leaders invited to partner, coordinate, and align around northeastern Illinois’ biggest issues

Over the past year, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has been convening leaders from all parts of northeastern Illinois — bringing expertise from government, business, civic, philanthropic, and academic sectors — to shape the direction of The Century Plan, a long-range vision for a competitive, thriving region.

The Plan Preview details the emerging direction of The Century Plan, directly shaped by the past year of research, cross-sector engagement, and honest dialog about issues that require coordinated action at a regional scale. It brings together what we know about the region today, the issues communities are facing, and the forces that could reshape our trajectory.

Taken together, these insights reveal where regional action will matter most — and the five Grand Challenges around which The Century Plan will organize that action. These Grand Challenges are interconnected and systemic, requiring expertise and action from many different players. They are the issues that have the potential to drastically shape northeastern Illinois’ future and need coordinated regional action to move the needle.

The Century Plan Grand Challenges:

• Transportation: A network built last century now needs major reinvestment and modernization as climate pressures, rising costs, and new technologies reshape how people and goods move.
• Water: The region’s freshwater advantage is under strain due to aging infrastructure, groundwater decline, growing demand — and fragmented governance that limits coordinated action.
• Electric grid: Rapid increases in electricity demand — driven by industry, technology, and electrification — require a more resilient, efficient, and affordable grid to power future prosperity.
• Housing: A shortfall of attainable housing options makes it harder for residents to find homes that fit their lifestyles and budget, and for businesses to attract the talent they rely on.
• Open space: Development continues to outpace conservation, weakening ecosystems, increasing climate risks, and limiting access to natural spaces — challenges that require regional stewardship.

The Century Plan is a roadmap to guide regional alignment around what matters most and how we take action together to secure the future we want. As The Century Plan development process moves from a discovery phase toward action, the next step is to bring more voices into the conversation to help test these ideas, deepen our understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead, and build the partnerships needed to act on them together.

We invite you to join the conversation! Learn more and sign up for The Century Plan newsletter.