Free Burma

The Center for Resilient Cities is a private not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation, dedicated to enhancing the ecological, social, and economic quality of Wisconsin’s urban neighborhoods by helping to transform unused, underused and blighted spaces into vibrant public places. We do this through leadership, vision, advocacy, and expertise in all aspects of community organizing, as well as project planning, design, land acquisition and preservation, construction and management. Some projects are modest. Others are bold and ambitious. All require carefully and artistically designed spaces that are unique and versatile, that anchor communities, and that will grow in value over time.


Since our founding in 1996, we have helped protect and restore more than 300 downtown acres in the greater Madison and Milwaukee regions; successfully advocated for state and local land use policy reform; spearheaded a public financing referendum that set aside $30 million for open space acquisition in Dane County; established seven “friends” groups still committed to providing stewardship for open spaces in their neighborhoods; and created and launched the Community Open Space Partnership—a coalition of nearly 50 Wisconsin-based public and private sector agencies, businesses, and tribes—to help promote green infrastructure on the statewide level.