Over the course of 2020, public health, racial equity and authentic placemaking have surfaced as key issues in the San Diego-Tijuana region and across the country, as the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests have taken center stage.

To provide San Diego-Tijuana civic planning and development professionals a blueprint for moving forward equitably and knowledgeably, the San Diego-Tijuana District of the Urban Land Institute has announced a multi-year initiative called The Inclusive Region that will culminate with the 2022 ULI Spring Meeting, an international convocation that will bring planners, developers and academics from all over the world to our region to glean insights from one another and the development professionals reshaping our community.

ULI San Diego-Tijuana launched The Inclusive Region initiative with a four-session virtual symposium that addressed diversity, equity and inclusion; public space and public health; innovation and leadership; and the built environment. The free-wheeling discussions, which drew hundreds of real estate and design professionals, included an in-
depth examination of the history and causes of inequity and resulted in a wellspring of ideas and techniques that members of the 700-strong district council could use to address them.