Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
In this lecture, Maurice Cox will present what happens when designers share the power of design with marginalized and disenfranchised communities and begin to reverse decades of disinvestment to reactivate neighborhood cores on the south and west sides of Chicago. Cox, Emma Bloomberg Professor in Residence of Urban Planning and Design at the GSD, will discuss the goals, engagement processes, and still-evolving outcomes of former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s signature economic development initiative, INVEST South/West, which he designed as Chicago’s Commissioner of Planning and Development. Lightfoot will join Cox onstage for an in-depth conversation following his lecture.
Speakers:
Maurice D. Cox is the Emma Bloomberg Professor in Residence of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining the GSD faculty, Cox was the director of planning and development for the City of Detroit (2015-2019) and Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago (2019-2023), where he focused on the challenges facing contemporary urban revitalization.
Cox is an urban designer acclaimed for his ability to merge architecture, design, and politics in pursuit of design excellence and the equitable development of cities. His professional biography offers a new model for what a designer in society can be, demonstrating that planning, architecture, and design operate within a sociopolitical sphere.
To that end, his career spans public service, private practice, and higher education, including his tenure as mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia; as Design Director for the National Endowment for the Arts under two presidents; and as a tenured faculty member at the University of Virginia and Tulane University. Cox received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Cooper Union and a 2005 Loeb Fellowship from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Lori E. Lightfoot served as the 56th mayor of Chicago, making history as the city’s first African American female mayor and first member of the LGBTQ+ community to ever serve as mayor of the city. During her term as mayor, which ended May 15, 2023, Lightfoot led a coordinated, citywide response across government, business, and community organizations to safeguard public health and minimize the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lightfoot also championed generating inclusive economic growth across the city’s neighborhoods specifically those that had historically suffered from decades of disinvestment. Through her signature economic development plan, Invest South/West, the Lightfoot Administration partnered with the private sector and philanthropy to invest approximately $3 billion dollars into Black and brown neighborhoods on the city’s south and west sides. Lightfoot’s administration also led many wealth-building initiatives for Chicago residents, which freed them from tens of millions of dollars in city debt. In August of 2021, Lightfoot secured a $15 minimum wage for most workers in Chicago, including domestic workers, years ahead of the state’s planned phase-in of a living wage.
Lightfoot is a founder of Chicago Vibrant Communities Collective, a not-for-profit focused on strengthening Chicago neighborhoods through investing in community-based, social impact organizations in historically disinvested communities. Lightfoot has recently joined the global consulting firm Charles River Associates as a Senior Consultant in the Forensic Practices group. Lightfoot is based in the Chicago office.
00:00 Introduction by Rachel Weber
07:07 Lecture by Maurice Cox
40:15 Discussion with Maurice Cox and Lori Lightfoot
01:13:23 Q+A
In this lecture, Maurice Cox will present what happens when designers share the power of design with marginalized and disenfranchised communities and begin to reverse decades of disinvestment to reactivate neighborhood cores on the south and west sides of Chicago. Cox, Emma Bloomberg Professor in Residence of Urban Planning and Design at the GSD, will discuss the goals, engagement processes, and still-evolving outcomes of former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s signature economic development initiative, INVEST South/West, which he designed as Chicago’s Commissioner of Planning and Development. Lightfoot will join Cox onstage for an in-depth conversation following his lecture.
Speakers:
Maurice D. Cox is the Emma Bloomberg Professor in Residence of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining the GSD faculty, Cox was the director of planning and development for the City of Detroit (2015-2019) and Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago (2019-2023), where he focused on the challenges facing contemporary urban revitalization.
Cox is an urban designer acclaimed for his ability to merge architecture, design, and politics in pursuit of design excellence and the equitable development of cities. His professional biography offers a new model for what a designer in society can be, demonstrating that planning, architecture, and design operate within a sociopolitical sphere.
To that end, his career spans public service, private practice, and higher education, including his tenure as mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia; as Design Director for the National Endowment for the Arts under two presidents; and as a tenured faculty member at the University of Virginia and Tulane University. Cox received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Cooper Union and a 2005 Loeb Fellowship from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Lori E. Lightfoot served as the 56th mayor of Chicago, making history as the city’s first African American female mayor and first member of the LGBTQ+ community to ever serve as mayor of the city. During her term as mayor, which ended May 15, 2023, Lightfoot led a coordinated, citywide response across government, business, and community organizations to safeguard public health and minimize the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lightfoot also championed generating inclusive economic growth across the city’s neighborhoods specifically those that had historically suffered from decades of disinvestment. Through her signature economic development plan, Invest South/West, the Lightfoot Administration partnered with the private sector and philanthropy to invest approximately $3 billion dollars into Black and brown neighborhoods on the city’s south and west sides. Lightfoot’s administration also led many wealth-building initiatives for Chicago residents, which freed them from tens of millions of dollars in city debt. In August of 2021, Lightfoot secured a $15 minimum wage for most workers in Chicago, including domestic workers, years ahead of the state’s planned phase-in of a living wage.
Lightfoot is a founder of Chicago Vibrant Communities Collective, a not-for-profit focused on strengthening Chicago neighborhoods through investing in community-based, social impact organizations in historically disinvested communities. Lightfoot has recently joined the global consulting firm Charles River Associates as a Senior Consultant in the Forensic Practices group. Lightfoot is based in the Chicago office.
00:00 Introduction by Rachel Weber
07:07 Lecture by Maurice Cox
40:15 Discussion with Maurice Cox and Lori Lightfoot
01:13:23 Q+A
