A Tale of Two Rivers: Zoning Policy Conflict and the Production of Public Space on the Chicago River

In his tenure as Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019, Rahm Emanuel prioritized development that would draw corporate investment into Chicago and elevate the city on the world's stage. In order to do this, he prioritized zoning policy that would allow for public space development on the Chicago River as well as the redevelopment of the North Branch of the river from an industrial zone into an innovation zone. These policy changes succeeded in redeveloping the character and ecology of the North Branch, but did so through the intensification of polluting industrial activity on the South Branch of the river. This thesis examines the interactions among three pieces of zoning policy, the Chicago River Design Guidelines, the North Branch Framework Plan, and a draft Little Village Framework plan, analyzing the policy mechanisms with which the City has attempted to create public space on the river while encouraging the redevelopment of the North Branch and the continuation of industrial activity on the South Branch. I show that this diverging development scheme has created geographically-unique barriers to using the river as a public space in each area, and I ultimately argue that it has contributed to increased spatial and environmental inequality within the city. Finally, I argue that the City should halt the practice of selling public land to private developers and reform environmental, labor, and land-use policies to change the nature and geography of industrial activity in Chicago, two changes that would promote public access to the Chicago River while balancing the economic and environmental needs of the city.