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The Evolution of Black Neighborhoods, Through a Hip-Hop Lens

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A new book by UCLA Luskin Professor Michael Lens examines the characteristics and trajectories of Black neighborhoods across the United States over the 50 years since passage of the Fair Housing Act.

In “Where the Hood At?,” Lens uses the growing influence of hip-hop music, born out of Black neighborhoods in the 1970s, to frame a discussion of the conditions that have allowed these communities to flourish or decline.

Published this week by the Russell Sage Foundation, the book reveals significant gaps in quality of life between Black Americans and other racial and ethnic groups, and also shows that neighborhood conditions vary substantially region by region. For example, Black neighborhoods are more likely to thrive in the South but are particularly disadvantaged in the Midwest and Rust Belt.

Lens offers several recommendations for policies designed to uplift Black neighborhoods. One radical proposal is implementing programs, such as tax breaks for entrepreneurs or small business owners, that would encourage Black Americans to move to prosperous communities in the South and consolidate their political and economic power. He also calls for building more affordable housing in Black suburbs, where poverty levels are lower than in central cities.

Lens is a professor of urban planning and public policy, chair of the Luskin Undergraduate Programs and associate faculty director of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. His research and teaching explore the potential of public policy to address housing market inequities that disadvantage low-income families and communities of color.

 

UCLA Evaluates L.A.’s Plan to Invest Billions in Wastewater Recycling Infrastructure

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As urgency grows to develop climate solutions, a new UCLA report confirms that the wastewater recycling plans for the nation’s second-largest city would make Los Angeles more resilient and self-reliant during droughts or disasters that cut off outside water supplies.

Using a new methodology to evaluate hundreds of thousands of scenarios, the UCLA research team, led by the Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI), found that the Los Angeles city plan would significantly boost local water resilience, minimize risks of aging infrastructure and uncertain water imports, and dramatically reduce drought- and earthquake-driven water shortages.

Los Angeles’ wastewater treatment plan, Pure Water Los Angeles, would create a renewable local water source of more than 250,000 acre-feet of clean drinking water, enough for more than half a million households annually. To support the city’s goal to recycle all wastewater by 2035, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power committed to invest at least $6 billion in the infrastructure project, previously titled Operation Next (OpNEXT).

Supporting local water supply transitions is not just needed in Los Angeles. Other cities dependent on imported water, such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, as well as densely populated urban areas around the world can use the new methodology to shape their own water solutions.

Learn more about the Luskin Center for Innovation’s research initiatives on local water supply and wastewater infrastructure.

 

U.S. Governance Challenges Put Election Integrity at Risk, Report Finds

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With two weeks to go until the U.S. presidential election, a new analysis highlights critical governance challenges that threaten the efficacy of the American political system.

“Declining democratic accountability means that the power of the American people’s voice will be diminished — both in terms of electoral voice and the power of social institutions to check elected officials once in office,” according to the report authored by researchers from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute and the Hertie School in Berlin, Germany.

Based on data from the latest Berggruen Governance Index, the report finds that both democratic accountability and state capacity have sharply declined in the U.S. since 2015.

Particularly in key swing states such as North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia, declines in democratic norms — including curtailment of voting rights in some instances — could lead to “critical consequences for electoral integrity,” the authors caution.

The report also notes that an “outsized role of money in politics” has been exacerbated by landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have removed limits on electoral spending and increasingly marginalized the voices of average citizens.

Regarding state capacity, the report finds a broad and steady erosion since 2000, occurring across the sectors of fiscal capacity, coordination capacity and delivery capacity. Weakened state capacity negatively affects the U.S. government’s ability to respond to crises or natural disasters. This can lead to popular anger and increasing frustration with government efficacy, the report says.

— Democracy News Alliance

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Luskin Experts Join UC Consortium Aimed at Meeting Californians’ Basic Needs

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UCLA Luskin’s Paavo Monkkonen and Juan Matute have joined the Abundance Policy Research Consortium at the University of California’s Possibility Lab.

They will join a team of experts from across the state who will spend the next year developing an evidence-based policy agenda focused on expanding Californians’ access to essential resources, goods and services.

While the state is home to great economic abundance, far too many struggle with economic insecurity and a lack of access to basic goods and services. The new consortium is part of the Possibility Lab’s Abundance Accelerator, launched in April to leverage research, innovation and collaboration to work toward a “fundamentals-first” policy agenda.

Monkkonen, a professor of urban planning and public policy, will focus on housing.

“This is an exciting opportunity to work with a diverse and knowledgeable group dedicated to improving Californians’ lives,” Monkkonen said. “The state of California has taken a number of important steps on housing, but a lot of work lies ahead.”

Matute, deputy director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, will focus on transportation. The consortium’s other areas of focus are food, water, energy, health care, safety, employment, education, child care, elder care and digital connectivity.

The research developed by Monkkonen, Matute and other consortium members will be used for strategic planning by high-level California state government partners.

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Gilens Book Honored for Its Enduring Influence

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UCLA Luskin’s Martin Gilens has received the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award from the public policy section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). The award, given in recognition of scholarly work that has made a lasting impact on the field of public policy over the years, honors Gilens’ “Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy.” The 1999 book, which sheds light on myths and misconceptions about welfare policy, public opinion and the role of the media in both, has been “profoundly influential,” APSA organizers said. They cited the book’s “rigorous analysis and insightful arguments, which have significantly advanced our knowledge of the intersection between public perception, race and policy, shaping both academic discourse and practical policy considerations.” The prize was presented this month at APSA’s annual convention in Philadelphia. Gilens, a professor of public policy, political science and social welfare at UCLA, has published widely on political inequality, mass media, race, gender and welfare politics. He is author of “Affluence & Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America” and co-author of “Democracy in America?: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It.”

 

A Decline in Student Victimization, Even in Areas of Conflict

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A new study measuring changes in campus climate at Israeli elementary schools over a 12-year period found a steady decline in students’ feelings of victimization — including marked improvements for Arab students and those from a lower socioeconomic status, a welcome surprise to researchers. The study set out to assess the prevalence of physical, emotional, social and cyber-based violence among students from different backgrounds, said UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor, a co-author of the paper just published in the Journal of School Violence. Fifth- and sixth-graders at both Jewish and Arab school campuses across the country were surveyed between 2008 and 2019, a time when the Israeli education system was making significant investments in violence prevention, including retraining school staff to prioritize the creation of a caring environment. While the study did not establish a direct causal relationship between the investments and the findings, international researchers have linked improvements in school climate to policies and interventions centered on students’ social and emotional well-being. A 2023 study co-authored by Astor found this to be true at California middle and high schools, which saw a steep decline in day-to-day violence from 2001 to 2019. The study in Israel was based on data collected before the outbreak of war in Gaza in 2023, but during a time of ongoing geopolitical conflict and cultural strife. “This study shows what a positive climate in schools, cultural recognition, resources and intentional violence prevention can do to improve the lives of millions of students on a day-to-day level, even in a war-torn place like the Middle East,” Astor said.

 

New Book by Rowe Explores the Many Dimensions of Cannabis Policy

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A new book by UCLA Luskin’s Brad Rowe examines the evolving systems of governance related to the sale and use of cannabis in the United States, providing an essential resource for students of public policy, drug and criminal justice policy, political science and law. “Cannabis Policy in the Age of Legalization,” published by Cognella Inc., immerses readers in the history and culture of cannabis, now regulated, taxed and licensed for recreational or medicinal use in most U.S. states. The book challenges students to critically examine the industry through the prisms of public affairs, social welfare, urban planning, equity, economics and politics. Rowe writes that the book includes accounts from “those who were there: regulators, smokers, scientists, growers, artists, retailers, those with lived criminal justice experience during the terror that was the war on drugs, law makers and law breakers, innovators and crude profiteers.” Topics of study include cannabis as a plant and product; urban and rural social justice and equity challenges; illicit operators and small business protections; and methods for promoting public benefits and preventing public harms. The interactive ebook is designed to accompany a college-level course that teaches students to formulate responsible opinions on cannabis legalization then defend them with good analysis. Rowe earned his master of public policy from UCLA Luskin in 2013. He is president of Rowe Policy Media, where he applies his extensive experience in public policy analysis and messaging to improve public health and safety, and he teaches and conducts research on cannabis and criminal justice policy.

 

UCLA Public Interest Research Awards Recognize Tenant Advocacy Project

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When millions of Americans lost wages at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, mass evictions loomed. California, and particularly Los Angeles County, with an estimated 365,000 renter households at risk, were no exception. In response, UCLA scholars Hannah Appel, Gary Blasi and Ananya Roy and their colleagues launched an online eviction-defense application called the Tenant Power Toolkit. Working with housing justice lawyers, technologists and community partners, the UCLA team coded the regulatory landscape of California’s 580 jurisdictions into a program tenants can easily use on any internet-connected device, in Spanish or English, to prepare their defenses. For this work, the three scholars have received UCLA Public Impact Research Awards, which celebrate the efforts of faculty who translate research into positive public action that benefits local, national and global communities. The UCLA Office of Research and Creative Activities, which bestows the annual awards, will host a ceremony honoring the recipients later this year. Since the Tenant Power Toolkit launched in July 2022, the program has prepared more than 8,000 eviction defenses, allowing approximately 21,000 tenants — over a third of them children — to avoid default eviction. “Eviction is a systemic problem,” said Appel, who noted that tenants face civil court eviction proceedings alone. “Our toolkit seeks to provide people the tools to fight their eviction while building the collective tenant power necessary to meet that of landlords and a financialized housing market.” Roy is founding director of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, where Appel is associate faculty director. Blasi is a professor emeritus at UCLA Law. — Madeline Adamo

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