2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 35

particular focus on low-income and
disinvested places.
The foundation's support has
helped ULI deliver technical assistance
in 16 communities under the
current grant, according to Rachel
MacCleery, co-executive director of
ULI's Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability
in Real Estate. In Philadelphia,
for example, a ULI panel heard
about community concerns, hopes,
and dreams for West Fairmount
Park, a vast and under-resourced
park in a disadvantaged part of the
city, and put together recommendations
on how to center the community
in decision-making and leverage
revenues to fund improvements.
Another panel in Denver provided
advice on reimagining an urban boulevard
to make it more accessible
for multimodal transportation, while
providing recreational opportunities
along the route. In Meridian, Idaho,
a panel provided recommendations
for implementing an equitable, sustainable,
and accessible trail and
pathway system across the rapidly
growing city.
The Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
describes its mission as " building
a culture of health for America. "
The foundation has contributed over
$4 million to ULI so far, providing
funding for work that focuses on
intersections among real estate, the
built environment, and health and
racial equity.
The foundation has been a key
funder of the District Council Partnerships
for Health Equity program,
an effort by five ULI district councils
to highlight the effects of racially
discriminatory land use and transportation
policies on the health of
marginalized local residents.
In Toronto, for instance, ULI
Toronto launched an effort to track
the historical displacement of Black
residents in Toronto neighborhoods,
and identify action steps to begin to
address the impacts of this displacement.
In St. Louis, the ULI district
council has lifted up the need for
We have worked with over 12 different
municipalities and local sponsors to address
everything from extreme heat and flooding
to resilience hubs and infrastructure. "
-LINDSAY BRUGGER, ULI
more resources for the repair and
restoration of existing homes, and is
spearheading the creation of a new
network to better coordinate home
repair efforts in the city.
The foundation was also the key
funder of the seminal 2022 ULI
report, 10 Principles for Embedding
Racial Equity in Real Estate Development.
" The report summarizes 10
guiding ideas that can help developers,
investors, and other practitioners
make racial equity a central part of
their real estate practice and deliver
benefits for communities, " says MacCleery,
who notes that it is one of
the most widely read reports on the
Institute's Knowledge Finder website.
The foundation has supported the
research and writing of other recent
ULI reports, including Reshaping the
City: Zoning for a More Equitable,
Sustainable, and Resilient Future,
which was also supported by The
JPB Foundation, and an upcoming
ULI report on the issue of climate
gentrification, in which demographic
shifts driven by climate change
threaten to displace existing residents
of communities.
The JPMorgan Chase Foundation
The philanthropic arm of the nation's
biggest bank has been a significant
ULI supporter, providing $1 million
toward helping communities grappling
with the issues of climate resilience.
One of the major efforts this
foundation backs is the New Resilient
Land Use Cohort, a project that
supports local government and community
groups to improve climate
resilience, with a focus on historically
marginalized groups, who are often
more affected by climate change.
" We have worked with over 12
different municipalities and local
sponsors to address everything
from extreme heat and flooding, to
resilience hubs and green infrastructure "
as a result of JPMorgan's gifts,
explains Lindsay Brugger, a ULI vice
president and leader of the Urban
Resilience program. " We've done
some post-tornado work as well as
a lot of work at the intersection of
equity and climate resilience. "
In New York City, for example,
a ULI technical assistance panel
worked with the city's housing
authority to evaluate one of its properties
for climate risks, including
extreme heat and flooding. After the
panel, " We were able to help them
with the creation of a 'look book'
for cloudburst infrastructure, which
addresses heavy rainstorms, " says
Brugger. " They actually referenced
it in an RFP that they put out, so
that the proposals they accept and
implement are referencing the best
practices that ULI created. NYCHA
[New York City Housing Authority]
provides housing for 400,000
people, so it's essentially like helping
a small city.
" Our resilient land use cohort is
explicitly working with communitybased
organizations, " in places such
as the Lower Ninth Ward in New
Orleans and the Eastwick community
in Philadelphia, Brugger says.
That involvement " ensures that these
local solutions and local challenges
are addressed in a way that benefits
everybody. "
The Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation, started in
1924 by department store chain
founder Sebastian Spering Kresge,
has concentrated its philanthropic
efforts in recent years, expanding
opportunities in American cities and
SUMMER 2023
URBAN LAND
35
ULI FOUNDATION
2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land
