Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Civic Consulting Alliance and its partners -- McKinsey & Company, Mayer Brown, EWK International, and Mercer Consulting -- helped establish a Regional Planning Board, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).
Following the 2005 act passed by the Illinois General Assembly mandating the creation of a Regional Planning board, Civic Consulting
- Developed the governing structure;
- Led the search for an executive director;
- Defined a merged organization;
- Drafted by-laws;
- Branded the new entity and
- Facilitated the board's strategic planning.
As result, one of the core recommendations from the Metropolis 2020 report was implemented: CMAP consolidates the functions of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) and the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) to ensure that regional planning combined transportation and land use planning.
The Challenge
The Chicago region, in recent decades, had failed to integrate land-use policy and transportation policy. The lack of coordination resulted in communities that lacked adequate transportation
The Solution
Metropolis 2020 and other civic leaders recognized importance of having a planning council that focused on close collaboration between land-use and transportation policy makers. Metropolis 2020 lobbied the Illinois legislature for more robust regional planning. The State of Illinois to pass a law that required CATS, focused on transportation, and NIPC, focused on land use, to merge.
Buoyed by board member encouragement and funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Civic Consulting was uniquely situated to assist the merger of these two distinct institutions.
McKinsey and Company offered strategic planning advice and coached the newly established board. With McKinsey’s assistance the board articulated a new, unified vision and integrated governance structure for CMAP.
With a clear vision in place Mercer Consulting developed an organizational structure that would allow CMAP to effectively focus on transit and land use. To increase efficiency in planning, Mercer determined that the organizational structure should have a single planning department.
The Impact
Skilled professionals with topic expertise facilitated a smooth and rapid merger. With assistance from pro bono partners, Civic Consulting transformed two desperate institutions into CMAP –18 months ahead of schedule. By having one central planning agency, the Chicagoland region has a transportation and land-use information hub with a depth and breadth of knowledge unrivaled in the region.
Skilled professionals with topic expertise facilitated a smooth and rapid merger. With assistance from pro bono partners, Civic Consulting transformed two desperate institutions into CMAP –18 months ahead of schedule. By having one central planning agency, the Chicagoland region has a transportation and land-use information hub with a depth and breadth of knowledge unrivaled in the region.