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Right Infrastructure, Right Place (RIRP)

Building sustainability through green infrastructure investment for the greatest strategic impact

Smart municipal investment toward climate adaptation

The Chicago region faces significant climate challenges—heat risk, air quality issues, and flood risks. At the same time, historic patterns of public and private development have exacerbated racial and economic disparities in how these risks are distributed. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) is a crucial tool which the region’s leaders and decision-makers can use to address these challenges. To be most effective, GSI needs to be designed and implemented strategically. Advances in data analysis and technology are enabling public agencies to better identify the most effective uses for their GSI investments, putting the right (green) infrastructure in the right place to provide the greatest community-level benefits.

Public sector decision-makers can use this research to integrate naturally sustainable solutions alongside grey infrastructure, and prioritize investments in communities disproportionately affected by environmental harm. When incorporated into planning efforts, the right GSI in the right place can complement and strengthen both local and regional responses to climate change.

RIRP goals and objectives

This initiative will pursue the following goals:

Our strategy

MPC aims to align leaders at the City of Chicago, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and Cook County, leveraging regulatory and programmatic advances to foster data-driven and financially incentivized strategies for GSI prioritization and implementation. These strategies combine immediate environmental benefits with longer-term systems change, aligning policies and practices across all levels of government. Our intent is to provide the following:

BENEFITS & OPTIMIZATION
Enable evidence-based, equitable decision-making on the siting and sizing of GSI projects, based on estimates of risks and benefits

RESEARCH & POLICY CHANGE
Incorporate these data-based methodologies into codified plans and policies, working alongside our partners in stormwater agencies

SYSTEMS CHANGE
Create lasting alignment on GSI across agencies and between governments in the region

Project Team and Scope

MPC is providing initiative-level management and coordination, with strategic support from our long-standing collaborator, The Nature Conservancy, through the StormStoreTM partnership. Our community-based partners—Blacks in Green and Emerald South—will serve as pivotal case studies, providing invaluable insights into the cumulative benefits of nature-based infrastructure at varying community scales, based on real-world scenarios and opportunities. Our technical partners—Confluency, One Water Econ, and Discovery Partners Institute— bring specialized expertise and innovative capabilities, poised to substantially impact not only our collective work but also the broader RxN community of practice.

The initial two years of the Right Infrastructure, Right Place initiative are anchored by a grant from the Walder Foundation in support of the Resilient by Nature Project (RxN). Our work is conducted in coordination with the efforts of the Alliance for the Great Lakes’s Chicago(land) Flooding and Sanitation Equity Initiative and the Healthy Schools Campaign’s Green + Resilient Chicago initiative.  

Timeline

Beginning June 2024: In year 1, we will develop our benefits optimization methodology and case studies.

Beginning June 2025: In year 2, we will turn to the implications for policy and systems change, working closely with water utilities in both Cook County and Chicago. 

Further Reading