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Radiant Riverdale emerges from a Master of City Design (MCD) Studio at the University of Illinois at Chicago: the Riverdale Charrette (Summer 2026). The course represents an evolving, interdisciplinary effort to imagine a more just, connected, and ecologically restored future for the Calumet region. The Summer Chicago Charrette 2026 studio will set the foundation for the subsequent work by the Fall 2026 Urban Edge studio, who will dive deeper into Riverdale and provide more detailed design interventions.
Foreword
A plan driven by RCLT’s main goal of helping families build long-term stability and wealth by creating pathways to homeownership for Riverdale CA residents, Radiant Riverdale is the culmination of an intensive one-month co-design process that included. The project is part of MCD’s larger, multi-year planning presence in the Calumet region which encompasses various hands-on studio courses throughout the academic year. Funded by a National Institute for Health grant, this work is structured around modules and changing scales to propose design and planning strategies for the Calumet region. Across various geographies in the region, students address land use issues and propose new roadmaps for deltaic change and climate adaptation in the long-term.
Leveraging a strong planning legacy from the past and looking towards the future, the Radiant Riverdale plan mobilizes this larger Calumet region planning partnership to constructively contribute to local efforts for community ownership and wealth-building, ecological and physical health, and agency and autonomy over development in the Riverdale CA. Finally, the 2026 Chicago Charrette studio lays the groundwork for the Fall 2026 MCD cohort to produce refined design recommendations, building off of the planning produced this summer. The ultimate aim is to empower residents as co-designers of their own communities.
Introduction
Nestled at the southernmost tip of Chicago, Riverdale Community Area (CA) is a place of deep history, resilience, and exceptional natural beauty. Its residential neighborhoods - Altgeld Gardens, Golden Gate, Eden Greens, and Riverdale - carry generations of families and a legacy rooted in the Underground Railroad and the Environmental Justice movement, originating from a long-time Altgeld Gardens resident Hazel Johnson. Riverdale CA is a network of community gathering spaces, gardens, and vast open space that define neighborhood life. However, the community faces significant challenges from decades of industrial pollution, rising costs of living, and stagnating local economy. The upcoming CTA Red Line Extension project presents new economic opportunities and greater connectivity between the community and the rest of the city, but also introduces uncertainty about the future of the neighborhood’s character. Within the landscape of these changing conditions, the foundation for a healthy and thriving Riverdale CA are ever-present; vast prairies with abundant wildlife, expanding public amenities, and renewed community leadership are driving a new vision for the community.
Purpose
In May 2026, University of Illinois at Chicago’s Master of City Design’s (MCD) Chicago Charrette studio partnered with Riverdale Community Land Trust (RCLT) to create a framework plan that works to reclaim the places people live, work, and play in Riverdale CA. RCLT leaders imagine new ideas in transforming land into community amenities that support a greater quality of life for current and future generations to come.
These planning efforts aim to empower community leaders to restore land long cherished by residents, while thinking boldly about strengthening these assets through a co-designed framework plan for the future. The Radiant Riverdale: Co-designing for Community Ownership Plan takes a high-level approach to spatial planning, guiding a strategic vision for new homes, shops, job centers, and open space while considering how the study area connects with neighboring communities. Health is at the forefront of this plan’s approach. With the support of RCLT, Openlands, and partners, this plan envisions a Radiant Riverdale that prioritizes health by restoring connectivity, economy, and ecology through community autonomy.
The Region
The Calumet region is located along the southern tip of Lake Michigan and straddles the bistate boundary between northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. Centered around the Calumet River watershed, this geographically and ecologically diverse area encompasses portions of Cook County, Illinois, and Lake County, Indiana. The watershed is defined by a network of interconnected water bodies, including Lake Calumet, the Little Calumet River, the Grand Calumet River, and Wolf Lake, along with a mosaic of marshes, wet prairies, and globally rare dune and swale ecosystems. Historically, the region was home to expansive wetlands and rich biodiversity, supporting Indigenous communities and early settlers who relied on its ecological abundance.
The Vision
A radiant Riverdale that prioritizes health by restoring the vitality of the people, environment and economy through community autonomy.
A radiant Riverdale that prioritizes health by restoring the vitality of the people, environment and economy through community autonomy.
Study Area
Our study area is the community of Riverdale within the City of Chicago. Our official study area boundaries are Indiana Avenue to the west, the Bishop Ford interstate highway to the east, 130th Street to the north, and 138th Street to the south. The area consists of the residential communities of Altgeld Gardens, Golden Gate, and Eden Green. The Little Calumet River winds through the heart of the study area.
Riverdale Study Area Map
Three Design Proposals
The charrette approach builds on what Riverdale community area (CA) already has: a community with deep roots, a riverfront that’s been cut off from the neighborhood, and a strong history of residents organizing for themselves. Instead of one large master plan, the plan proposes a set of smaller, coordinated projects that the community can own and carry out over time.
Map of all design proposals
PROPOSAL 1
Main Street Riverdale:
Indiana Ave Commercial Corridor
The plan proposes increasing density on the currently vacant lots along Indiana to activate the street front. Today, Indiana is a wide and uncomfortable street; a plan goal is to make it inviting for pedestrians. To do this, the plan proposes a wide tree canopy for shade, raised crosswalks for pedestrian safety, benches for gathering, infill mixed-use development and a widened sidewalk with dedicated bike lanes. The plan developed designs using community feedback from the town hall, where residents said that traffic safety on Indiana Ave was a high priority, citing inadequate sidewalks, high speed traffic, and safety concerns for children and seniors.
PROPOSAL 2
River Trail:
134th Street and the River's Edge
Converts vacant parcels along the riverfront into green space and mixed-use development, including increased recreation activities, creating a new commercial and recreation node for the community. Active streets, walking trails, children’s parks, and riverwalks converge here, offering a new form of mixed-use living at the adjacent of idyllic natural assets. This development offers a new place of rest for residents while creating a new shopping corridor in the far south side
PROPOSAL 3
Riverdale Housing:
Golden Gate, South Riverdale & South of the River
This proposal leverages the community land trust model to increase home ownership in this community by reviving housing in Riverdale using affordable homes and mixed-use spaces. The three sites chosen for redesign reflect RCLT's priorities. RCLT's first priority is to develop housing infill by acquiring the publicly-owned or vacant parcels. RCLT’s end goal is to create homeownership and remove blight, by adding homes that currently fit Riverdale CA’s housing profile, which are mostly single-family homes and two-flats. As that work develops, RCLT can built the capacity, financing, and track record it needs to take on the larger prize - mixed-use and commercial development on the vacant riverfront parcels beside the public open spaces.
Riverdale Boards
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