The University Development Initiative, or UDI was founded in December 2002, to begin to confront the issues that are arising from the rapid growth of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the area that surrounds it, also known as University City.

As of right now, the intention of the University is to expand to accommodate 25,000 students by 2010. As the University continues to increase its capacity, new buildings to accommodate these students have become a necessity. Also, as the University expands and gains national attention, University City becomes a greater attraction to corporations and new residents.

Our goal as an organization is to be proactive about growth and development in and around UNC at Charlotte. We are dedicated to ensuring that University City is a place that will continue to have the ability to attract intellectual capacity.

The geographical and urban situation in which our University currently stands is somewhat of a paradox. As we continue to grow, we look to other Universities which have withstood the test of time, in order to find models for expansion. However, we exist in a place that lacks the fabric of those older institutions. The suburban environment in which we exist lacks the street systems, pedestrian environments, and density that occurred in places that predate the automobile.

To this point in time, much effort has been give to planning the campus within its edges. These efforts have led the University a long way from the commuter-oriented campus that formed the springing point for the growth of UNC Charlotte. However, it is now time to expand those planning efforts to a greater scale, one that involves the area that serves UNC Charlotte. As an increasing number of students come to UNC Charlotte to attend college, there exists a need to provide services for them.

As of right now, the services and infrastructure of University City is not able to fully support this student base. The suburban environment offers little opportunity for recreation and enjoyment for those students who do not own a car. In addition, much of the new development around the University suffers from a lack of quality and character, and is not tailored to a place with a high population of students and intellectuals. This diminishes UNC Charlotte's potential to attract talented students and faculty.

Our goal at UDI is to bring together the people who shape our environment, be it architects, planners, developers, politicians, and administrators, in order to begin to create development and infrastructure capable of sustaining our University now and in the future. We want to involve the public and the businesses of the area in this process, in order to make their voices heard, because these are the people that have a long-term commitment to the area. We welcome input from everyone, as we feel the more people involved in this process, the more progress we can make.

Please join us in making University City and UNC Charlotte places that our city and its residents can take pride in, for generations to come. We welcome you to read our charter, and attend the events listed on our web site. Thank you for your time.