Englewood Agro-Eco District Land Use Plan

Gensler is working with the City of Chicago to repurpose 1.75 miles of an abandoned railroad to create a natural recreation trail on the city’s South Side. Known as the Englewood Nature Trail, the recreational path will provide a neighborhood anchoring amenity that can support economic growth and community revitalization. The project will also preserve the natural landscape that has taken over the rail line since it was shuttered in the early 1970’s.

The nature trail serves as the spine of a larger plan to create the nation’s first Agro-Eco district — and support a vision for Englewood to become an economic center for urban agriculture, for both indoor and outdoor farming. This emerging, neighborhood-based plan focuses on supporting racial equity and economic growth in a historically disadvantaged community. It will also provide employment opportunities to local residents and build upon the area’s growing urban agricultural presence that has emerged over the last 10 years.