The Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) connects the dots — between regional needs, challenges, and solutions, and among the individuals and organizations with the power and capacity to guide the growth of the ever-changing Chicago metropolitan region. As the region continues to grow and prosper, our mission is taking us beyond Illinois to work with partners and communities throughout the tri-state region.
At MPC, we do our work in three phases: policy development, policy promotion, and policy implementation. Policy development is done through the use of models tested in communities around the region. Policy promotion is done through education and advocacy with policymakers at all levels of government. Policy implementation is done through the practical application of MPC-designed tools communities can use. Because policy change requires time and persistence, MPC often deploys all three of these strategies during the life cycle of an individual project, in different sequences and intensities.
MPC's 75th Anniversary
In 2009, MPC marked its 75th anniversary. This video chronicles MPC’s role as an agent for positive change in the region since 1934, and features interviews with past and present MPC leaders, including Dorothy Rubel, who served as executive director from 1943 to 1974, and one-time President and longtime MPC Board of Governors leader John Baird, chairman, Baird & Warner.
