Part of the worldwide family of 46 Open House events that Open House London inaugurated in 1992, Open House Chicago is the second-most widely attended event of its kind. OHC engaged 109,000 individuals in 2019 who made 370,000 total site visits to 352 sites in 39 Chicago neighborhoods, plus the suburbs of Evanston and Oak Park.

More than 20 Chicago neighborhoods and two suburbs will be highlighted during OHC 2020, with an intentional focus on, and engagement with, areas and corridors prioritized by the City of Chicago's INVEST South/West initiative. These include Auburn Gresham, Austin, Back of the Yards, Bronzeville, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, Pullman, Roseland and South Shore. Fourteen additional focus areas confirmed to date are Chicago's Loop, Near North Side and Near West Side plus Beverly, Chinatown, Evanston, Hyde Park, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Oak Park, Pilsen, Rogers Park, Wicker Park and Woodlawn.

Visitors to each OHC 2020 area will be supported in their self-guided exploration by free resources available online at OpenHouseChicago.org, as well as through an application for mobile devices compatible with both Android ( Google ) and iOS ( Apple ) operating systems.

Advance registration for most free and paid online events will be required, through the OHC mobile app, at Architecture.org or OpenHouseChicago.org . Current CAC members will receive exclusive benefits and discounts throughout OHC 2020.