Technology and innovation continue to evolve at a rapid pace. The pace of change is happening faster than our abiity to respond to those changes. This scenario begs the question: should cities lead change? Or should cities accommodate it?

Regardless of how you may answer this question, the fact is, the future is now! Innovations in transportation, the economy, and technology are changing how we move, how we spend, and how we live in our communities. New modes of transportation range from high speed rail, connecting long distance travelers to destinations in a quarter of the time it now takes, to the practicality of motorized scooters, providing transportation options to residents and employees to move from one block to the next.

What will this mean for cities like Cleveland? How should Cleveland change our ecosystem to be nimble and adaptable to a constantly changing world?

The Urban Land Institute Cleveland and the City of Cleveland seek to explore these and other questions that will challenge cities like Cleveland in the 21st Century. In 2014, ULI and the City of Cleveland partnered to advance Cleveland’s efforts to update its current zoning code. The symposium held in 2015 began the process to move Cleveland into the 21st Century with respect to addressing our regulatory environment, such as to ensure that we create development projects that promote walkable communities. We are now embarking on a new initiative that will continue our work to make Cleveland a competitive city in the 21st century.

This project will kick off with an inclusive symposium, Building the 21st Century City: The Future is now!.  This symposium will engage a cross section of stakeholders within the City of Cleveland. The symposium will focus on three critical components of the development of cities in the 21st Century. The project will utilize three key actions to identify concrete steps we can take to energize the City of Cleveland and stakeholders to accelerate competitive action steps.

The Building the 21st Century City: The Future Is Now! symposium will facilitate development of realistic outcomes and results, which the City of Cleveland can utilize to develop a planning framework to firmly establish Cleveland as a more competitive and smarter City, ready for the changing technology of the 21st century.