UIP Portal gives the world a digital window into neighborhoods they wouldn’t otherwise visit. The portal unites communities, bringing together online and community stakeholders to develop a set of retail corridors.

 

Put into practice, UIPP could accelerate economic development, dramatically helping to attract and retain many more businesses in urban communities each year.

 

Chicago's South and West Sides present a unique opportunity for an investment in the future. There are thousands of vacant or abandoned properties peppered across these areas. The tools are now available to enable a convergence for mass redevelopment one retail block at a time.

This means using innovation to:
• Locate groupings of available retail and residential locations.
• Offer dynamic conversations between buyers, area leadership, residents
• Attract the fertile minds of youth as an asset to economic development

 

Goals
The goal of the initiative is to use GIS (Geospatial Information Systems) to place a window on specific city blocks for development of retail businesses. The GIS application will allow the general public to identify available locations, associated information and even view the locations.

The project will give potential businesses, big box retailers and entrepreneurs a fresh perspective on investing in our communities. This project will accelerate economic development through visible results for youth stakeholders, community residents and the general public while bringing in business and creating jobs.