Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris on How Hostile Architecture Shapes Our Cities How public spaces are designed to exclude certain groups—and what that says about our cities.

/0 Comments/in , /by

Hostile architecture, sometimes called defensive design, is becoming increasingly common in cities and public spaces. At its core, it’s an urban design strategy meant to discourage certain behaviors, subtly shaping who gets to use spaces and how. Sometimes it’s as discreet as a bench split by armrests to prevent lying down, other times it’s as blatant as rows of metal spikes installed beneath an awning to keep people from sitting.

“Through design you are making them uncomfortable so that they leave, or you’re making particular activities that they tend to do uncomfortable,” explained Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Interim Dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a Distinguished Professor of urban planning and urban design at UCLA.

These design strategies may deter unhoused people, but they also affect everyone. For example, planters or boulders placed to block tents also make sidewalks harder to navigate for parents with strollers or people with disabilities.

Hostile design is not as obvious sometimes either, says Loukaitou-Sideris. “Another example is there was a Skid Row park in Los Angeles where the authorities would start the sprinklers at night so people could not sleep in the park,” Loukaitou-Sideris said.

The controversy is especially sharp when public transit spaces are involved. “You can consider bus stops public spaces because everybody can sit there and they should be open and accessible to the public, right? And unhoused people often use the bus — sometimes they use it as shelter but sometimes they use it to go to work, or reach a destination. So by excluding them from these spaces, does it retain the publicness of the bench?” she asked.

But on the other hand, Loukaitou-Sideris acknowledges competing pressures: “Local governments would say that if the space is occupied constantly by an unhoused person, then other legitimate riders will not be able to use it.”

To read the full article about hostile architecture, please visit here.

After January wildfires, Luskin students help one vulnerable community build resilience

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

by Joey Waldinger

This spring, as Los Angeles recovered from wildfires that devastated Altadena and Pacific Palisades, a class of UCLA urban planning graduate students was learning how to help vulnerable neighborhoods prepare for the next one.

In assistant professor Minjee Kim’s Site Planning Studio, students spent the quarter immersed in Solano Canyon, repeatedly visiting the hillside community neighboring Dodger Stadium and meeting with residents to develop practical strategies for wildfire resilience.

The class was a crash-course in the realities of urban planning — unexpected challenges, stakeholder relationships and tight deadlines. But these challenges, Kim said, pushed everyone to grow, creating a deeply fulfilling educational experience and laying the foundation for further research on regional wildfire resilience.

“Working with actual stakeholders who had land ownership, resources or authority over the areas we were proposing ideas for — that level of real-worldness wasn’t something I envisioned,” Kim said. “It made the class really challenging but at the same time really rewarding. I’m so grateful to the entire class for being extremely passionate and dedicated about the project, and to the people of Solano Canyon.”

A service to Los Angeles

Kim was still planning her studio curriculum when the fires broke out in January.

“It seemed like a disservice to the community and the broader L.A. region if I didn’t address the wildfires in some way,” she said.

Not wanting to burden recently affected communities, Kim began researching other communities vulnerable to potential fire events. Through the city of L.A.’s Urban Design Studio, she connected with community organizers in Solano Canyon who were already working to reduce wildfire risks.

Sara Harris Ben-Ari, a co-founder of community group 1866 in Historic Solano Canyon, has lived in Solano Canyon since 2000. Fires have sparked in the neighborhood almost monthly for at least a decade, and Harris Ben-Ari and her neighbors have been working to reduce fire risks for nearly as long. But after the Eaton Fire — when burning embers flew into her yard— she pursued solutions with more urgency.

When Kim reached out to discuss a collaboration, Harris Ben-Ari said it felt like a perfect match.

“It was a godsend to have a group of really smart young students who are working at that level and have that level of training, attention … who really want to learn about landscape design and resiliency and geography as it applies to public planning and policy,” she said.

Planning for equitable fire resilience

Nestled within Elysian Park, vibrant Solano Canyon is the last remaining part of Chavez Ravine, a historic neighborhood razed in 1959 to clear space for a massive public housing project known as Elysian Park Heights, which never materialized, and later Dodger Stadium. Solano Canyon is located in one of the state’s highest fire severity zones, though its density and relative affordability are unique among most communities included in fire resilience discourse.

“I thought this would be a great opportunity for the students to work in a diverse and urban environment that is very different from affluent neighborhoods that already have resources to make their communities more fire resilient,” Kim said.

Students took this opportunity head on. During the first Saturday of the quarter, Harris Ben-Ari and fellow 1866 co-founder Lydia Moreno led the class on a neighborhood tour, pointing out fire hazards such as wooden infrastructure, overgrown grasses and invasive eucalyptus trees. Kim urged the students to revisit the area individually throughout the quarter.

Micah Wilcox, a second-year master’s student, said that as the quarter progressed, the class increasingly resembled a project that professional urban planners would encounter in the field. Working in teams, students presented weekly updates on their projects, honed visual and public-speaking skills, and learned to work as a team under tight deadlines.

“To just get dropped into a group and say, ‘Hey, you have a deadline, you guys need to put this together’ — that’s a foundational skill,” Wilcox said. “That’s what we do in the real world.”

Building community ties

UCLA students present maps and findings at various stations in a room. Credit: Minjee Kim

Community engagement is another foundation of urban planning that was baked into the class. And in the real world, as Kim’s class learned, community engagement is not always easy.

For the midterm, students invited residents to a presentation analyzing the neighborhood’s wildfire risks and vulnerabilities. Presenting to community members instead of engaging with them sparked tension, while concerns about fires started by the neighborhood’s unhoused population complicated things further.

“We did not realize that [the living quarters of unhoused people] was a major source of fire events in Solano Canyon, and when the community members started bringing up this issue, we didn’t have a good answer,” Kim said.

Kim describes the midterm as a turning point in the class. By the final, the class shifted to a design charette format, where the students created interactive stations that invited participation and input from the residents. She added that students steadfastly advocated for community members to work with their unhoused neighbors in reducing fire ignitions, instead of trying to “sweep away the issue.”

“It wasn’t us presenting information to them. It was more like we are learning from you, and here are some of the ideas and thoughts we can share with you,” Kim said. “So it was very much a cooperative, positive conversation.”

Overall, though, Harris Ben-Ari said the community was impressed by the students’ professionalism and thoughtfulness. The students’ work, she said, stood in stark contrast to what Solano Canyon residents often experience from officials — just holding obligatory meetings without really considering community needs.

“Everybody really felt like they were heard,” she said. “And if they didn’t, they felt like they could explain how they would be better heard and understood.”

What’s next?

Most of Kim’s research focuses on zoning and land use, but her studio class touched off an ongoing project on wildfire resilience. Over the summer, Kim has been working with two graduate students on a report summarizing the class’s recommendations and proposals, and illustrating how Solano Canyon can serve as a model for similarly positioned communities.

“It’s going to be a case study of Solano Canyon, but framed in a way that is helpful for the broader L.A. region in making hillside communities more fire resilient,” she said.

For Harris Ben-Ari and her neighbors, the students’ maps, research and other resources will help them apply for grant funding and push for more support from the city.

“It’s one more very solid tool in the toolbox.”

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris on Why Transit Safety Must Balance Security and Accessibility

/0 Comments/in , , /by

The fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train has reignited national debate over transit safety. Security footage showed the unprovoked attack, prompting federal investigation and sparking broader questions about how to protect riders in open, accessible public transit environments.

While some argue for airport-style security measures, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a transit safety expert, cautions against solutions that could slow down the very systems meant to move people quickly.

“Transit systems have to be open and accessible. It’s very difficult to install measures that you put, for example, in airports because the public is not going to accept such delays,” Loukaitou-Sideris explained.

She suggests exploring advanced scanning technologies at major hubs that can detect weapons without lengthy lines, though such systems remain costly. Loukaitou-Sideris also noted the limits of any single measure: even with cameras and increased patrols, unpredictable incidents can still occur. The tragedy underscores the tension between maintaining accessibility and ensuring safety in public transit.

Preserving L.A.’s Cultural Heart: Luskin Alum Edgar Garcia’s Journey from Lincoln Heights to El Pueblo 

/1 Comment/in , /by

At the heart of downtown Los Angeles stands El Pueblo de Los Ángeles, the birthplace of the city and a living remnant of the city’s layered past. As Interim General Manager of El Pueblo, urban planning alumni Edgar Garcia (MAUP ’ 06) oversees 22 acres of museums, historic buildings, legacy businesses, and sacred public spaces, including La Placita or commonly known as Olvera Street. His work at El Pueblo is about preserving Los Angeles’ most treasured historic spaces for future generations. For him, this isn’t just a job; it’s a calling deeply rooted in his heritage, and he credits the training he received at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs with preparing him for this monumental role. 

Garcia grew up in Lincoln Heights, one of Los Angeles’ oldest neighborhoods. As a first-generation Mexican American, he heard stories about his family’s roots in Jalisco and Zacatecas, two states in Mexico celebrated for their rich history and cultural significance. “As a Mexican American born and raised in L.A., I wanted to know what my heritage was,” Garcia recalls. “I went to the L.A. Central Library and found an architectural guide about Los Angeles. Reading about Lincoln Heights got me interested in L.A. architecture which then led me to learning about the history of L.A.” 

It was that curiosity combined with his passion for community that eventually led him to UCLA Luskin, where he immersed himself in urban planning with a focus on preservation. Today, as a director of a historic district, his responsibilities are as multifaceted as the history of the site itself. He’s a landlord to business owners on Olvera Street, a museum director overseeing seven cultural institutions, and a steward of current and future public art, such as the controversial “America Tropical” mural from 1932 by Mexican artist David A. Siqueiros and the future memorial to the 1871 Chinese Massacre. 

Looking back at his time at UCLA, Garcia credits Luskin’s interdisciplinary approach as the foundation for his planning career. “At Luskin, I met transportation advocates, housing experts, people working across every aspect of planning. I was the only preservation guy, but I got out of my comfort zone learning alongside people who came into planning from so many different backgrounds and perspectives.” 

“The interdisciplinary skillset I acquired through my Luskin years really set me up for success.”

The value of Luskin’s academic diversity has proved instrumental in his professional life. Working with L.A. Department of Urban Planning staff, California Department of Transportation representatives, Metro planners, engineers, elected officials, and policymakers required Garcia to speak multiple “planning languages.” His Luskin coursework also taught him how to bridge disciplines and perspectives, a skill that has shaped his leadership today. 

“The interdisciplinary skillset I acquired through my Luskin years really set me up for success,” Garcia says. “That approach is the only way to do this work and be successful.”

Garcia’s role also placed him at the center of a defining moment in our city’s history. He stood alongside Mayor Karen Bass during an executive directive signing at El Pueblo on July 11, a site chosen because of its painful past and its role as a beacon of hope for immigrant communities. 

In his introductory speech he spoke about how in the 1930s, La Placita was the site of forced repatriations, where Mexicans and Mexican Americans, some U.S. citizens, were rounded up and deported. However, decades later, in the 1980s, the La Placita Church became the first Catholic church in the city to declare public sanctuary, offering refuge to Central American migrants and sparking the sanctuary movement. 

“To have the mayor sign support for immigrants at the Pico House was profound,” Garcia reflects. “It proves that history is meaningful, and it resonates with what’s happening now. We survived that period with dignity and hopefully that history inspires people today.” 

For Garcia, moments like these reaffirm the importance of his work at El Pueblo, not just in preserving historic buildings but keeping the stories of Los Angeles alive for generations to come. 

  

UCLA Student Research Drives Water Resilience and Equitable Solutions in Post-Fire Los Angeles

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

A team of UCLA master’s students in urban and regional planning (MURP) has produced an extensive report, “Drought and Climate Resiliency Solutions for Small Water Systems in Los Angeles County,” offering real-world strategies to strengthen water security and climate resilience. 

When the January 2025 wildfires swept through Pacific Palisades, a group of MURP students witnessed the devastation unfold in real time on their first day of class. What started as a class project on water system vulnerabilities quickly became a real-world assignment: students, many personally affected by the fires, sprang into action to research and propose solutions that not only addressed the immediate impacts of the wildfires but also offered long-term strategies to strengthen water security and climate resilience. 

Developed in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and guided by faculty at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, the year-long project examines the vulnerabilities of small water systems, many of which were directly impacted by the L.A. wildfires, and proposes solutions to ensure safe and reliable drinking water for fire-impacted communities across Los Angeles County. 

The twelve-student research team included Alex Sun, Allison Samsel, Aydin Pasebani, Catherine Ren, Chloe Curry, Dana Choi, Emily Cadena, Leo Blain, Leila Moinpour, Nasir Sakandar, Veronica De Santos, and Will Callan. They conducted in-depth analyses on drought risk, wildfire impacts, and system preparedness, culminating in a professional presentation of their findings. Their work is already informing county and state-wide efforts to advance the human right to water and shape long-term climate resilience strategies. 

“This work by our student team will serve to directly inform real-time L.A. County and California state agency efforts to ensure a human right to water in the region,” said Greg Pierce, UCLA professor of urban planning, Luskin Center for Innovation senior director, and director of the Human Rights to Water Solutions Lab who co-advised the report. “The methodologies developed on drought water shortage risk and fire vulnerability also have wide applicability well beyond the county.”  

Edith de Guzman, adjunct professor of urban planning and water equity and adaptation policy cooperative extension specialist at Luskin Center for Innovation was another co-advisor on the project and underscored the importance of the students’ work. “This project benefited greatly from the hard work, diligence, and nimbleness of a dozen MURP students,” de Guzman said. “In the end, the result is an impressive suite of actionable assessments, analyses, and findings — all painstakingly documented.”  

A key emphasis of the report is the feasibility of water system consolidation, an approach that can improve technical and financial stability for struggling utilities. Alongside consolidation, the report also considers alternative strategies such as water conservation, new well development, and recycling projects. 

“This suite of outcomes contributes innovative new guidance in understudied and largely unregulated spaces — including community water system fire risk and preparedness,” said de Guzman. 

Pierce praised the students’ work following the capstone presentation: “You did amazing work that culminated in a professional presentation that demonstrates real solutions for climate resiliency in small water systems. But at its core, this report is about water access as a human right. You should all be very proud.” 

The findings are a partial preview of the Southern California Community Water Systems Guide, which will be released by Luskin Center for Innovation in late Summer 2025. This guide will present performance data on all community water systems in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, building on analyses completed in 2015 and 2020, which focused only on Los Angeles County.  

Planning for Recovery: Kenyah Kerilus’ Summer with ICF Disaster Management

/0 Comments/in , , /by

This summer, Masters in Urban and Regional Planning student Kenyah Kerilus applied her skills in disaster management as a housing and urban development intern with ICF, helping wildfire-impacted communities in Oregon rebuild and recover.

Where are you working this summer and what are your primary responsibilities or focus areas day-to-day?
I am working at ICF consulting firm as a housing and urban development intern assisting with a disaster management relief project, ReOregon. This project addresses the series of Oregon wildfires that occurred in 2020. There are 8 counties that were the most distressed/impacted and the goal is to aid those residents to reestablish their housing whether its through reimbursement, reconstruction, or relocation. I specifically worked with the construction team where we streamline the process of an applicant going through any of those paths. My main responsibilities were to determine what inspections each home/case needed and assigning them out, keeping applicant documents/records updated as they move through the process, and analyzing the cost differences between our pricing and the applicants’ contractors. The construction team itself does a lot and works with many different people (the applicant, construction advisors, outside contractors, etc.) and my main focus was to help move things along efficiently while working under the construction manager. 

Describe a specific project, interaction, or milestone this summer that made you think, “Yes, this is why I chose this field.” What did you take away from that moment?
An interaction that made me think “yes, this is why I chose this field,” occurred during my halfway checkpoint. My manager thanked me for my contributions and explained how the work I had done actually made a difference within the team, bringing us closer to achieving our deadline goals. As an intern, I think it’s easy to feel like the tasks you are doing are just busy work and don’t mean much, especially with this internship being fully remote. Hearing exactly how I had made a difference—and knowing that people who had been waiting far too long were closer to receiving the housing or reimbursement they deserved—made me genuinely happy.

How has this experience shaped your career goals or next steps at Luskin? Any advice for peers seeking similar internships or research opportunities?
This experience has taught me to be more open-minded to new experiences and reaffirmed for me that I would like to work in the disaster management field. I think that I was very stuck in how a job title sounded or what I thought I liked/didn’t like, that it stopped me from trying new things to actually find out. I would not have expected to enjoy working at a consulting firm had I not decided to take the chance to intern at ICF. My advice to peers would be to not limit yourself in what you think you like and to look deeper into roles because the day-to-day may be completely different than what you imagined. Take those chances now, while we are still in school!

How has this experience informed or shifted your vision for the kind of urban planning work you hope to pursue after graduation?
This experience reaffirmed my desire to work in disaster management, but it also showed me that there isn’t just one way to contribute in this field. I had a very specific idea of what disaster management would involve, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn about policy, federal funding, and state programs through the guidance of my wonderful coworkers, managers, and mentors. While I’m not yet certain which area of urban planning I will pursue after graduation, whether in government, non-profit, or consulting, I’m excited to know that the skills I’m developing now can be applied across a variety of contexts.

What planning tools, mapping skills, or community engagement strategies have you found most valuable in your day-to-day work so far?
Knowing how to analyze data has been a skill I use almost everyday and helps when I create my reports! Also, a lot of the information I learned in the ‘Law & Quality of Urban Life’ course was very helpful. Having that background knowledge in zoning and land use regulations helped me catch on quickly working with the construction team.

Manville: Ventura’s Main Street Debate Oversimplifies Downtown Challenges The UCLA planning scholar warns that business depend on many factors beyond the street closure.

/0 Comments/in , /by

As Ventura’s City Council prepares for a final vote on whether to keep Main Street closed to cars or reopen it, business owners and residents remain deeply divided. Some credit the pandemic-era “Main Street Moves” closure with creating a lively, family-friendly downtown, while others say it’s driven customers away and hurt businesses.

Michael Manville, professor and chair of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, commented in an article published by the Ventura County Star against drawing direct conclusions about the closure’s impact. He notes that downtown retail across the country has faced long-term challenges, from e-commerce to competition with big box stores, making it hard to isolate the effect of Ventura’s street closure.

Manville frames the debate as less about hard data and more about perception.

“Downtowns and businesses in downtowns have good and bad periods for all sorts of reasons,” Manville said. “Isolating the amount of good or bad luck that you can attribute to the street closure is difficult. If someone owns a business and the business is flagging a little bit and there happens to be a street closure, it makes sense to blame the street closure and see if changing it up can change your fortunes.”

Mapping Safer Streets: Paul Louboutin’s Summer at LADOT

/0 Comments/in , /by

Paul Louboutin, a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student specializing in transportation equity and design, spent his summer putting classroom theory into practice through hands-on work at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

What organization or agency are you working with this summer, and what are your primary responsibilities day‑to‑day? 

This summer I am working at Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) as an intern among their Transportation Planning and Policy team. My main tasks are quite diverse; they can range from data collection and analysis on traffic models to policy reports on specific transportation related measures. 

Describe a specific project, interaction, or milestone this summer that made you think, “Yes, this is why I chose my field.” 

I worked on a map design highlighting the existing conditions of MacArthur Park, which will undergo some potential road closures along Wilshire Boulevard to reconnect both sides of the park. This map is currently available on LADOT’s website Advanced Planning section under “Reconnecting MacArthur Park”. As a graduate student in urban planning at UCLA, I personally focused my studies on transportation equity and safety. I was glad to improve my design skills working on this visioning project in Westlake, which puts people before cars, building off my academic research improving pedestrian safety and accessibility around Stoner Park in Sawtelle. By creating this map, I learned that design elements follow standards such as a specific color palette, different fonts and sizes. More importantly, I realized that final products like this map have been reviewed multiple times by various experts, each bringing valuable input before releasing it to the public. This project examines potential open streets and permanent street closure concepts to reconnect MacArthur Park. I believe this experience prioritizing safety for those walking, biking, and rolling convinced me that I chose the right career path: working as a transportation planner seeking to provide safe streets for all road users. 

What’s one insight or perspective you’ve gained that surprised you, shifted your thinking, or changed how you approach urban planning? 

During my summer internship, I got the opportunity to work on the Measure M guidelines, an ordinance which received incredible public support in 2016. This ordinance which imposes a retail transaction and use tax allowed the city to build and expand rail lines, implement active transportation projects, improve public transit networks and reduce congestion. I specifically worked on the expenditure plans for different ongoing and future projects in Los Angeles. Looking at all these budget plans, and how important Measure M was for the city, I was surprised to see how funding is crucial in transportation planning. In an academic environment like Luskin, projects I worked on usually didn’t consider funding implications, which in my opinion is a huge mistake. I believe I stayed too long in this bubble which blinded me from the current situation, funding and investment are key to executing successful projects. Therefore, this professional experience undoubtedly shifted my understanding from an abstract conception of urban planning learned in class and real-life challenges that planners face every day. 

How has this experience shaped your career goals or next steps at Luskin? Any advice for peers seeking similar internships or research opportunities? 

This summer internship at LADOT was decisive for my own career goals. The diversity of the tasks I worked on with my team was eye-opening and I was personally challenged to put my skills learned at Luskin into practice. I now can see myself working as a transportation planner on a wide range of projects through data analysis but also design elements to better implement comprehensive policies. This opportunity is great to learn how to cooperate with other team members but also how to work in a traditional office environment. As a transportation planning intern, having this macro understanding of the city ins and outs through LADOT’s public agency lens is in my view an extremely rewarding opportunity to start exploring the professional world. 

Cycling Toward Stability: How Bikes Help the Unhoused UCLA ITS’s Jacob Lawrence Wasserman highlights bikes as a low-cost mobility lifeline.

/0 Comments/in , , /by

In San Diego, Deacon John Roberts leads a weekly cycling program that gives homeless participants more than exercise. It offers mobility, community, and a sense of freedom. For many of the participants in the program, cycling is a lifeline for job searches, addiction recovery, and access to services, despite unsafe riding conditions, theft, and persistent stigma.

Transportation is a major barrier for the unhoused, and advocates say bikes should be part of broader mobility strategies. “Bikeshare passes are dirt cheap compared to giving people cars or giving people transit passes,” said Jacob Lawrence Wasserman of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies in a new Bloomberg CityLab article. “But it requires getting over that stigma of thinking every unhoused person on a bike must have stolen it.”

Homeless cyclists. part of the “invisible cyclist” population. often face unsafe riding conditions, theft, and stigma, with limited inclusion in policy discussions. Despite risks, bikes offer independence, health benefits, and social connection.

Michael Manville Critiques L.A.’s Vision Zero: Progress ‘Incredibly Disappointing” Urban planning expert Michael Manville says Los Angeles’ Vision Zero traffic safety initiative has failed to deliver

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

The Los Angeles Times article examines the harsh reality of implementation challenges for ambitious urban goals like phasing out gas-powered vehicles or becoming a fully interconnected Smart City. Most notably, the Vision Zero initiative—the city’s pledge to end traffic deaths by 2025—has stumbled amid funding shortfalls, political inertia, fragmented coordination, and a lack of accountability.

On Vision Zero’s failure, UCLA professor and chair of urban planning Michael Manville didn’t mince words: “Incredibly disappointing,” he said. “The city remains incredibly dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.”

Despite these setbacks, Los Angeles has committed significant resources to Vision Zero. In the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the city approved a budget of $100 million for Vision Zero initiatives, including road redesigns, improved signage, and enhanced lighting in high-risk areas.