Chicago Mayor's Effects on Green Space

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Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

Chicago is a city like no other. In that uniqueness lies the birth of Machine Politics, and the potential effects it could still have on us today. Chicago’s Machine Politics provided jobs, kept people informed on welfare benefits, and offered ways for people to work themselves out of poverty in a time where local governments were at their weakest. Most of the research done on mayors has been surrounding their economic impact or their ability to provide public services. While that is useful, some would argue that Chicago Democrats turned this into an almost nepotistic cycle of favoritism and disparity.

As the Democratic Machine rose to prominence in the 1930s with Mayor Anton Cermak, continued political pressures to have Chicago recognized as a global city have pushed Chicago leaders to invest less in green space over time. I will be focusing on green space growth in the city of Chicago, specifically on whether the politics of the mayor’s term aided or hindered Chicago’s green space growth. My methodology will be comparing green space between pre-Democratic Machine and post-Democratic Machine politics, in hopes of determining a pattern or trend between mayoral terms. While most of the literature about evaluating the city or the mayors is typically rooted in economic or public policy metrics or statistics, I hope to provide a different way to compare and evaluate our city’s leadership by focusing on green spaces like parks and preserves because it is a proven way to ensure satisfied, healthy citizens.