What is the Big Tent Urbanist Network?
Our Vision and Mission
The Big Tent Urbanist Network supports Chicago’s urbanist organizations by planning social events, organizing relevant programming, sharing resources, and being the first place that new urbanists go when looking for ways to get involved.
Forming a Big Tent means working together as individuals and organizations to strengthen our city without changing the very things that make Chicago special in the first place. The Big Tent Urbanist Network is an opportunity for our collective groups to make an impact greater than the sum of its parts.
What does it mean to be an urbanist?
We interpret it as being a person who enjoys the unique aspects of city living, who wants to understand how their city runs, and who strives to make it an even better place to live.
Being an urbanist does not require any particular experience - just an appreciation for how they run, and compassion for the people who live in them.
Join The Network
Are you part of an urbanist organization in Illinois?
Organizations that choose to affiliate with the Big Tent Urbanist Network have a common focus of building a better and stronger Chicago and Illinois; although individual organizations may be issue-specific, utilizing and activating our collective network offers the opportunity to wield tremendous power in forming Chicago - and the state’s - present and future.
History
Leadership
Leadership & History
The Big Tent Urbanist Network LLC was formed naturally through the informal relationships between members of different urbanist groups in Chicago. The name ‘Big Tent’ was coined in 2024 as groups began forming relationships with one another, leading to the first joint event at the Climate Action Museum in September 2024. As many of Chicago’s urbanist groups grew in size during 2025, leaders from the respective organizations realized that we could use this collective momentum to actually demand the big changes that Chicago desperately needs. The Big Tent Urbanist Network was created as a centralized vehicle for organizing cross-group collaboration, building connections and capitalizing on the positive momentum of the urbanist movement throughout Chicago.
Josh Chodor is the Founder and Director of the Big Tent Urbanist Network. A Board Member of Strong Towns Chicago and current student in the Master’s of Urban Planning and Policy Program at the University of Illinois Chicago, Josh developed a passion for urbanism through his lived experience as a frustrated transit rider and renter who wanted to find ways to be involved in city politics. Through his work speaking to leaders of urbanist organizations, Josh helped found the Big Tent Urbanist Network LLC in order to have a formal entity that can assist with planning joint-group events, keep organizations apprised of important new city developments and, most importantly, show elected officials the power of our urbanist community when we all work together toward a goal.