Former Chicago mayor Lori E. Lightfoot reflected on the impact of INVEST South/West, her signature economic development initiative, at a Harvard Graduate School of Design lecture on Tuesday.
Lightfoot joined Maurice D. Cox, former Chicago commissioner of planning and development, at Tuesday’s Carl M. Sapers Ethics in Practice Lecture to discuss their initiative. Implemented in 2019, INVEST South/West sought to revitalize the South and West Sides of Chicago through investment and high-quality design.
Lightfoot, Chicago’s first Black female and openly gay mayor, made the revitalization of the neighborhoods a priority after her 2019 inauguration.
“I just knew this was something that we had to do,” Lightfoot said. “We had this incredible opportunity, but also, frankly, in my mind, an obligation to upend years and decades of disinvestment in neighborhoods on the South and West Side…
