Regional Existing Conditions Analysis for Century Plan
SB Friedman brought complex regional trends to life through data visualizations and narratives informing two major long-range planning efforts.
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP)
Chicago Region, IL
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) engaged SB Friedman in 2024 to support the Century Plan and Regional Transportation Plan with analysis, data visualizations and narratives describing trends across CMAP's seven-county service area. Our work spanned multiple scales, from the regional level down to the Census block group and parcel level.
Work Completed
Analyzed population shifts by race, ethnicity and age
Examined household composition, income disparities and migration patterns
Assessed regional economic factors including employment shifts in key industry clusters, job locations, quality and access
Analyzed land use trends including changes in the region's urbanized envelope, recent housing growth by type and current share of land with transit-supportive residential zoning
Synthesized property and sales tax revenue data by municipality
Developed infographics and accompanying narratives to illustrate findings across multiple scales
Identified methodologies to categorize activity centers across the region to inform a regional land use framework
Results
SB Friedman's visualizations and narratives were incorporated into the existing conditions component of CMAP's Regional Transportation Plan in spring 2025 and featured at the State of the Region event in November 2025. The work is being used to communicate key issues in stakeholder meetings across the region and is expected to inform development of the Century Plan in 2026.
