What role does city-building play in realizing a sustainable future?
- In celebration of Earth Month, CMLC highlights five members of our Sustainability Committee.
- Five members of CMLC's Sustainability Working Group share the role that city-building plays in realizing a sustainable future.
- Featuring Jessie Boyle, Program Director, Building & Infrastructure; Colleen Atterbury, Office and Property Administrator; Tom van den Broek, Financial Analyst; Ushmi Kabir, Project Coordinator, Building & Infrastructure; Craig Lennon, Development Coordinator
From planning and project delivery to financial stewardship and placemaking, CMLC believes realizing a sustainable future isn’t the responsibility of one team or discipline—it’s a shared vision that can only be realized through a series of everyday actions across the organization, influencing how we plan, build, and care for our communities.
In celebration of Earth Month, we asked five members of CMLC’s Sustainability Working Group: What role does city-building play in realizing a sustainable future?
Here is how they responded:
Jessie Boyle, Program Director, Building & Infrastructure
Jessie believes that city-building in its simplest form is all about creating places that people want to work, live, and play for many years to come.
Through our work at CMLC, we naturally gravitate to sustainable principles such as thoughtful tree canopy on streetscapes and supporting multi-modal transportation,” she says. “The real challenge is thinking about how the future growth of the city will impact the spaces we’re creating today, and how these spaces will respond to changes in population, environment, and broader community development.
Jessie and her team work closely with partners to ensure the infrastructure is in place to prepare for the future while balancing material consumption. City building through a collaborative, long-term approach will help shape resilient, adaptable communities that can thrive for generations to come.
Colleen Atterbury, Office and Property Administrator
Sustainability is front of mind for Colleen through her work stewarding CMLC’s historic properties in East Village.
While our core business is about designing and building public spaces and thoughtfully designed communities, my role is about the ongoing operations of some of our most unique buildings.
CMLC stewards the historic Simmons building on Jack and Jean Leslie RiverWalk, Hillier Block, and the St. Louis Hotel which currently houses CMLC’s office. Colleen’s role enables her to explore sustainability measures in these spaces through practical, measurable actions—prioritizing waste diversion, reducing utility use, initiating preventative maintenance programs, and advocating for operational decisions that consider environmental impacts over time.
Tom van den Broek, Financial Analyst
From a financial perspective, Tom sees city-building as an opportunity to shape and incorporate sustainability practices at a systems level.
As city-builders, we are in the perfect position to design our spaces, operations, and communities in a sustainable way,” he explains. “But we need to set up systems that enable us to move the needle.
Tom’s role offers him opportunities to advocate for sustainability priorities to be built into project structures and outcomes—helping balance financial performance with long-term environmental value.
Ushmi Kabir, Project Coordinator, Building & Infrastructure
Ushmi sees CMLC’s role as a city builder to play a central role in shaping a sustainable future for the city.
The way we plan, design, and construct communities directly impacts environmental, social, and economic systems,” she explains. “By prioritizing energy-efficient, low-carbon materials where we can, and our new work in planning transit-oriented communities, our city-building efforts have the power to reduce carbon emissions, support healthier lifestyles, and create resilient, inclusive neighborhoods.
Craig Lennon, Development Coordinator
Craig plays a key role in community maintenance, development, and safety initiatives in both East Village and The Culture + Entertainment District. His work supports CMLC’s commitment to building and maintaining vibrant, welcoming, and well-cared-for public spaces.
The ongoing operations and maintenance of our spaces is just as critical to long-term sustainability as the design itself” he says. “As city builders, we have to consider both the design and long-term use of our spaces – everything from lighting and maintenance needs, to landscaping and waste management, and how we look after our parks and natural spaces.
Realizing a sustainable future is part of CMLC’s commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Sustainability (IDEAS), principles that underpin everything we do. One of our three IDEAS working groups, the Sustainability Working Group embeds a sustainable mindset into every aspect of our business, incorporating, wherever possible, high standards of sustainability with due consideration for the long-term environmental, social and economic well-being of our fellow citizens and our planet.
Learn about CMLC’s IDEAS commitment here.
