Announcing: iBU2030

iBU2030

The city of Boston is creating its first city-wide comprehensive plan in more than 50 years. Dubbed Imagine Boston 2030, this master planning effort was kicked off in Fall 2015 with a two-year participatory planning process to solicit feedback from residents. Imagine Boston 2030 has asked Bostonians to engage in “visioning” discussions in order to identify the challenges and opportunities felt by those who live in Boston.

Boston University’s City Planning & Urban Affairs (CPUA) program has answered this call through its own iBU2030 university-wide public engagement campaign initiated in Spring 2016. In partnership with the Initiative on Cities (IoC) and in collaboration with the Boston Urban Symposium capstone class — led by Professor Rami El Samahy and guided by a panel of eminent urban experts* — the Symposium students are focusing on Imagine Boston’s comprehensive plan by using Boston University as their focus. Boston University is the largest university system, the second largest employer, and an eminent educational and medical institution in a city known for leadership both fields; as such, it is as an important case study for the broader plan.

iBU2030 is a platform to seek feedback from the Boston University community of students, faculty and staff. The goal of iBU2030 is to explore how individuals affiliated with Boston University interact with the city by promoting discussion about how and why people live, work, play and learn in Boston.

Spearheaded by Jeannine Stover and Tess Kohanski – candidates for the Master of City Planning – iBU2030 seeks feedback to understand the challenges and prioritize the needs of different BU stakeholders in relation to the City’s Imagine Boston 2030 efforts. Upon the project’s completion, the findings will be presented to Imagine Boston 2030.

This engagement campaign will be active through spring and summer of 2016 and will include a series of focus groups, visioning charrettes, and online surveys. Participants will be asked questions such as: What do you feel are some potential barriers to attracting young professionals to Boston to work, live, play, or learn? From your perspective, what steps could Boston take to attract more students or young workers seeking educational, social, cultural, and employment opportunities?

This project will culminate in October 2016 with a final charrette and a presentation of the campaign findings to date. Community members from across BU will have a chance to participate in the final charrette and comment on the ideas presented. In addition to soliciting feedback and disseminating findings, iBU2030 will encourage and empower a unified BU voice and will allow the community to become a major player in the comprehensive planning effort.