The Morton Arboretum named a co-winner in World Business Chicago's 'Horizon Lines: Visions for Chicago 2050' competition

—'Green City Rising' vision seeks to create a living, green network of tree-centric green spaces across Chicago—

LISLE, Ill., Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Morton Arboretum's "Green City Rising: People and Trees Thriving Together" innovative urban design concept is a co-winner in the Horizon Lines: Visions for Chicago 2050 competition, World Business Chicago announced Sept. 15 at the City Club of Chicago.

"Green City Rising" reimagines Chicago as an arboretum—a connected network of tree-centric green spaces where every neighborhood benefits from a healthy tree canopy by 2050. A primary goal of "Green City Rising" is to position trees and nature overall as key stakeholders in Chicago's economic and community development planning from the beginning.

"It is an honor for The Morton Arboretum and our community partners to be recognized by World Business Chicago as a co-winner for 'Green City Rising,'" President and CEO Jill Koski said. "'Green City Rising' is so much more than planting trees. It envisions Chicago thriving through people and trees."

The landscape architecture firm MKSK was also named a Horizon Lines co-winner for its "Wonderways!" vision to reimagine Chicago's boulevards as a network of climate commons. Both winning ideas strongly align with advancing Chicago's historic identity as "Urbs in Horto," a City in a Garden, as interest in trees and green spaces as essential civic infrastructure continues to grow.

Among six finalists out of nearly 200 total Horizon Lines submissions, "Green City Rising" envisions a citywide system of interconnected tree-focused landscapes planned and designed directly by the local communities. These spaces would reflect the city's cultural richness and support walking, gathering and daily life.

"'Green City Rising' builds upon community forestry work we already have underway to ensure that all neighborhoods across Chicago realize the benefits of trees," Koski said. "This vision is about climate resilience, jobs, better health and safer communities. But, most importantly, it's about listening to the people living in Chicago neighborhoods so that the green spaces developed through 'Green City Rising' meet their needs and reflect their voices."

The Arboretum collaborated with its longstanding partners Blacks in Green and Urban Growers Collective to identify potential "Green City Rising" pilot projects. Blacks in Green and Urban Growers Collective, respectively, have shovel-ready ideas for a Community Resilience Garden in West Woodlawn and an urban tree nursery in Auburn Gresham, where 10,000 trees could be grown annually to bolster community forestry work. Architecture firm Vocon supported the Green City Rising proposal by creating renderings of BIG's proposed Community Resilience Garden.

For next steps, the Arboretum looks forward to exploring with cross-sector partners how these and other "Green City Rising" projects can materialize and make a difference where trees are needed most, Koski said.

The Arboretum has an established framework for implementation that directly supports the goals of "Green City Rising." Its urban and community forestry program, the Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI), has collaborated with more than 500 organizations and municipalities since its 2014 establishment to plant and care for trees in areas with reduced canopy cover. Since 2022, CRTI has planted and distributed over 10,000 trees across Illinois communities.

Another Arboretum program is ArbNet, the global accreditation network for arboreta. ArbNet has accredited nearly 1,000 arboreta worldwide, including dozens in the Chicago region, ranging from parks, corporate grounds, cemeteries, health care facilities and university campuses.

As climate pressures intensify and population dynamics shift, Chicago's future depends not only on environmental adaptation but on fiscally sound investments—like trees, the only type of infrastructure that increases in value over time—that strengthen neighborhoods as places of stability, opportunity and belonging.

"Chicago is the perfect city for a vision like this because 'Green City Rising' stands on the shoulders of Chicago's visionaries," Koski said. "Daniel Burnham's 'Plan of Chicago' embodied green space as essential for thriving cities. 'Green City Rising' expands this legacy and responds to today's pressing urban challenges due to climate change. Chicago's future depends on this type of planning."

The six Horizon Lines finalist proposals are on display in a public exhibition hosted by World Business Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center through Oct. 11.

About The Morton Arboretum
The Morton Arboretum is a globally recognized leader in tree research and education. Its 1,700-acre site cares for 106,714 specimens representing 4,067 different kinds of plants. The Arboretum's Center for Tree Science, Global Tree Conservation Program, Chicago Region Trees Initiative, and Center for Species Survival: Trees are contributing scientific knowledge and technical experience to secure the future of trees locally, nationally, and worldwide. Information about the Arboretum's scientific work and how it contributes to a greener, healthier world where people and trees thrive together can be found at mortonarb.org. 

SOURCE Morton Arboretum