COLUMBUS 2050  

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the participants of the ULI Columbus’s World Café for The City in 2050 initiative.  The input that was gathered during the event is being used to inform a long-term strategic vision for Central Ohio.

Of the many highlights of the February 25^th event, the co-creation of a group of principles to guide our regional decision-making and the subsequent sorting of those principles is at the top of the list.  From those principles and the other harvests, trends began to emerge:

Economic Prosperity; Social Equity; Environmental Protection; Quality of Life; Regional Collaboration; System-Wide Thinking; Diversity and Inclusivity

These event outputs, and many others, will be carried forward through our eight upcoming series events and will be included in the City in 2050: Creating Blueprints for Change in Columbus publication.

SUMMARY OF THE WORLD CAFÉ

We began the day by recalling a great experience in a city.  Among the words describing the diverse experiences, connection and community came up repeatedly.  Other descriptions included diversity, close or unexpected encounters, personal interaction, nature, culture, and beauty.

The first set of café table discussion, themed around what 2050 could be, included the following questions and subsequent responses:

 As you imagine Columbus in 2050, what are you noticing with your
senses?

 Birds, density, ethnic food, quiet, nature, fresh, urban oasis, color, people walking, fresh food, better mobility, jam sessions, natural smells, water, diverse spaces, diverse faces, different languages, connected neighborhoods, local identities, permeable surfaces, smaller homes, dads walking kids to school, kids walking to school, multi-generational voices, gathering places, less dependence on cars, public art, people talking, cleaner air, windmills, gardening, stars…

 What is your organization doing in Central Ohio in 2050?

Continued planning for most efficient use of resources; Permanence and adaptive reuse; We will have realized a wide spectrum of regional connectivity at the physical, social, information, services, cultural levels; Mixed use at different scales (community centers, mass transportation nodes); Working more efficiently, researching impacts on community; We are engaging, we embrace who we are, proactive; Now determines 2050 – continued management of change; Advanced and decentralized energy; Engaging and transforming through innovation (moving beyond fixing the broken); Active transportation will be mainstream and represent majority of travel mode; Diversity (economically and ethnically/demographically) in decision making; Commitment to people (kept jobs here and created new ones); Multi-disciplinary teams; Networked organization…

In 2050, what legacies have you left for Central Ohio?

Low cost clean energy; Good planning to create socially just neighborhoods; Commitment to people; Transformed leadership; Denser cities and suburbs, living smaller; Enhanced, not diminished; Halt sprawl, flexible affordable mass transit; Regional cooperation and planning; Thriving local entrepreneurship; Make a place where people want to stay; Unapologetic love of living here; Educational and economic opportunity; Boosted community pride that inspires greater community investment; Effective city meets needs of varied populations (people and business); Livable city and environment; Planning for and demonstrating the value of the city; Clean accessible bio-diverse river corridors; Thriving communities and neighborhoods…

A picture started to materialize of the Central Ohio of 2050 and what participants hoped to contribute to that future. During lunch, groups worked on illustrating that picture of the region in 2050.

The second café was themed around what principles should guide our decision-making and consisted of the following questions and highlighted responses:

 What are some of the choices that we have to make?

We choose to plan our region around people first; To work together regionally; To invest in the long term; Achieve broader participation in decision-making; To sacrifice some individual choice for the good of the whole; Resource allocation; Make infrastructure choices that create thriving diverse communities (people, plants); Choosing to incentivize non-auto modes of transportation; We choose to make green and blue space in our region a priority; Embrace what we have – who we are; Schools: same or better?; Incentivize dense, efficient land use; Strategic alignment, regionally is required for education, health, wellness, environment, and transportation; Incentivize long-term socio-economic access to housing at neighborhood level; Choose to be visionary…

 What principles should guide us in making these choices?

Economic Prosperity; Quality of life; Sustainability; Social Equity; Listening; System-wide and strategic thinking; Honesty; Looking forward; Be nimble; Efficiency; Collaboration between sectors; Identifying evolving needs; Boldness; Openness; Understanding the long-term consequences and see through the decisions (continuity); Policy should reward good planning with support (dollars, assets); Preserve and maximize existing assets; Inclusiveness and diversity in decision-making…

During our break, a question for reflection was posed to the group: In 2050, what will still be hard?  Answers that were written down included: educating the public and politicians, financing ideas and vision, and action to implementation.  What would you add to this list?

Next, everyone split into three groups to silently sort the principles for decision-making.  Each table had a unique way of categorizing the principles, demonstrating differences in interpretation.  One group decided to build a three-dimensional structure with the principle cards.  When the structure held the weight of a water bottle, someone noted the necessity of a “strong foundation of principles.”

For the check-out, everyone wrote down on a postcard what conversations they need to be part of going forward.  Your postcards will be sent back to you for you to recall.  As a final question, we asked who needed to be in the room.  Someone responded, “The 10 dollars an hour workers,” and another, “Not just the titans.”  Diversity is something that we strive for and our upcoming events are all open to the public.  We hope that you will be able to join us.

The input gathered from each of the discussions during the day will help inform the framework for a strategic vision for Central Ohio and will be used to guide decision-making within the region.  Thank you for joining us for the event and please visit our Blog for the complete harvests and more information about the upcoming events.