last updated 5.06.06

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Citizens from civic, environmental, business, neighborhood and community groups have joined with the University of Washington to create a 100-year plan for Seattle's open spaces. Our collaborative vision reaches from the city limits to the downtown core, creating a comprehensive network of parks, civic spaces, streets, trails, shorelines, and urban forests that will bind neighborhoods to one another, create ecological conduits from the city's ridgelines to its shorelines, and ensure a wealth of green spaces for all citizens to enjoy.

On February 3 and 4, 2006 over 300 citizens on 23 teams collaborated in the Green Futures Charrette to develop open space plans that address the entire city. Each charrette team, led by professionals and composed of planners, designers, developers, artists, engineers, ecologists, citizens and open space advocates, focused on a different part of the city to envision livable, healthy urban watersheds and neighborhoods for the next century.

Leading up to the charrette Open Space Seattle 2100 co-sponsored a series of public lectures and events, addressing civic open space, ecological cities, equitable access to open space, green infrastructure and Seattle open space design considerations. (see sidebars) Concurrently, UW students conducted supporting research for charrette participants. (see resources)

The resulting charrette teams' plans have been coalesced and will be presented to our partners and supporters in City of Seattle agencies, the Seattle City Council, the Mayor's office, and the public. The plans will endure for the next century, but will have immediate application by influencing agency planning, neighborhood implementation efforts, and a potential parks levy in 2008.