Prospects for Progress on Affordable Housing Solutions

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UCLA Luskin’s Michael Lens spoke to the podcast Health Affairs This Week about the roots of zoning policies that have kept neighborhoods segregated by race and income, and the prospects for progress in addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis. Efforts to change zoning laws to accommodate more housing units have historically been met with strong resistance, but Lens said the conversation has shifted just in the last decade. Now, there is widespread acknowledgment that “we need to do something somewhere” to provide residents with safe and affordable shelter. “The problem is that we have let this go on for so long, this lack of housing production and increased housing costs for people from the poor to middle class,” he said. But Lens pointed to states and cities that are upending zoning restrictions that have long kept a lid on housing development, and concluded, “This is a really good time for hope.”

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Heated Debate as Cal State Union Votes on a New Deal

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Urban Planning Professor Chris Tilly spoke to LAist about a tentative deal to settle a strike by California State University faculty. The union representing 29,000 coaches, counselors, lecturers, librarians and professors will vote on the agreement this week, and many are torn over whether they should support the deal or hold out for better terms. “Heated debate among membership is a good thing. Democratic unions with engaged memberships are healthier for it,” said Tilly, an expert on labor markets who also spoke with student media about the strike. Tilly noted that the agreement includes additional raises for the union’s lowest-paid members. “That’s something that unions don’t always attend to but is really important,” he said. “We have growing inequality. And in any workplace, the people at the bottom are the people that are struggling the most, and the fact that the union put a priority on that and won that is really a very positive thing.”

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I-15 Expansion Highlights Tension Between Commerce, Climate Goals

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Michael Manville, chair of Urban Planning at UCLA Luskin, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the approval of a freeway-widening project on Interstate 15. Truck movement along the I-15 is a major driver of the region’s economy, and the project highlights the friction between efforts to expand infrastructure to accommodate commerce and the state’s ambitious climate goals. Now, federal officials are looking into allegations that state and local officials mischaracterized the potential harm the project could cause communities that breathe in some of the nation’s worst air. Proponents of the I-15 expansion had argued that new lanes would speed up commutes, but critics said the opposite was true, that making more space for vehicles would draw even more drivers, increasing congestion and pollution. Traffic modeling studies can be used to say what you want them to say, Manville said. “From the moment we first started using these models many decades ago, they have aspects of being a black box.”

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Debate Over the Best Path to Affordable Housing

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A CityWatch article about the competing academic and economic theories at play in California’s affordable housing debate put a spotlight on comments made by UCLA Luskin’s Michael Storper during a meeting with the California Alliance of Local Electeds. Housing costs reflect a mix of economic, market and cultural factors, so a complex suite of policies is needed to address interpersonal inequality in our cities, says Storper, a distinguished professor of urban planning. He takes issue with the notion that simply constructing more units will lead to lasting solutions to California’s affordable housing crisis. “I think this is one of the toughest challenges we’re facing,” he said. “In big, prosperous metropolitan areas, what would it take to build housing for the big middle or lower end of the income distribution, quality housing that people want to live in?”

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Amplifying Latina Voices in Law and Policymaking

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By 2050, Latinas are expected to make up 13% of the U.S. population and account for 11% of the labor force. Yet Latinas comprise only 2.5% of all U.S. lawyers, account for less than 1% of all partners in law firms and have never served on the highest court in 44 states. To address this gap in Latina representation and leadership in law and policy, the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute; Latina Futures, 2050 Lab; Latina Lawyers Bar Association; and UCLA Chicanx Latinx Law Review hosted the inaugural Latina Futures: Transforming the Nation Through Law and Policy symposium. The event, which took place Jan. 20 and 21 at UCLA’s Luskin Conference Center, brought together nearly 400 Latina scholars, attorneys, politicians, policy leaders and students from across the country to explore today’s legal and advocacy challenges and opportunities through a Latina lens. “This weekend, we are replacing the status quo with forward-thinking, accurate and necessary contributions from Latina leaders now and well into the future,” said Sonja Diaz, founding executive director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute. Diaz co-founded the Latina Futures, 2050 Lab with Veronica Terriquez, professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin and director of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center. Terriquez expressed hope that the symposium would inspire participants to continue their advocacy and leadership. “We have the potential to inform social, political and economic changes that benefit the majority of this nation,” she said. “This is a long game, and it builds on the work that came before us.” — Cristian Rivera

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UCLA Hosts Its Largest Activist-in-Residence Cohort Five advocates for social change will be on campus through May to ‘turn the university inside out’

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By Les Dunseith

The UCLA Activist-in-Residence program welcomed five more changemakers — the largest cohort in the program’s seven-year history — to campus with a reception Jan. 24 at DeCafe in Perloff Hall.

The UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, which has selected at least one activist since 2017, is hosting community organizer Ron Collins II and revolutionary writer Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia during this academic year. 

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center, also a longtime participant in the program, is hosting writer and social justice educator Shengxiao “Sole” Yu. 

In its second year with the Activist-in-Residence program, cityLAB-UCLA is hosting Robert A. Clarke, a designer and educator practicing at the intersection of culture, identity and architecture. 

A new addition to the program for 2024 is the UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center, which is hosting Narges Zagub B.A. Anthropology ’20, a movement worker and facilitator.

Opening remarks for the reception were provided by UCLA Luskin Professor Ananya Roy, who created the residency program soon after arriving at UCLA as the director of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. 

She conceptualized the program as a sabbatical for participants, allowing them time and space to reflect, envision new projects, and connect with UCLA faculty, students and staff. 

“More than ever, I am reminded, in these difficult times, that the residency is our effort to turn the university inside out,” Roy told the crowd. “At the Institute, we organize knowledge within, against and beyond the university. The Activist-in-Residence program brings to the university the movement scholars and public intellectuals who are teachers and guides for this praxis.”

a dozen people gathered in advance of a group photo laugh while one of them holds a dog in the foregroundStaff, faculty and friends of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy share a laugh together while recognizing this year’s activists. In back, from left, are César J. Ayala, Will Sens Jr., Giselle Harrell, Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, Ron Collins II, Kristy Lovich, Sam Lutzker and Marisa Lemorande; in front, Ananya Roy and Carla Orendorff are on either side of Paisley Mares, who holds a dog named Lavi.
a dozen people gathered in advance of a group photo laugh while one of them holds a dog in the foreground
a dozen people gathered in advance of a group photo laugh while one of them holds a dog in the foreground
African American man gestures as he speaks with a microphone in hand
African American man gestures as he speaks with a microphone in hand
young Asian woman smiles broadly while speaking with someone to her right
young Asian woman smiles broadly while speaking with someone to her right
the two activists pose for a photo in front of a backdrop for the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy
the two activists pose for a photo in front of a backdrop for the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy
woman with dark curly hair is shown in profile at a podium while speaking
woman with dark curly hair is shown in profile at a podium while speaking

Roy and other representatives of the four UCLA sponsors then introduced the individual activists, each of whom spoke briefly about their previous experiences and their plans for the next few months. 

The first activist to speak this year was Gray-Garcia, who is a formerly unhoused and incarcerated poverty scholar who prefers to keep their face covered in public. Their rousing remarks were presented in the form of spoken word poetry.

The next activist to speak was Collins, a native of South Los Angeles who is has experience as a social justice strategist and movement builder. Collins’ work advances racial and social justice with a particular focus on Black, LGBTQ and environmental justice issues.

Yu is the creator of Nectar, an online space where she provides political education and healing justice workshops. She spoke of her efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation, particularly when it targets the Chinese-speaking community such as. harmful narratives attacking affirmative action and Black-on-Asian crime tropes during the COVID pandemic.

In his work with cityLAB-UCLA, Clarke said he aims to further efforts to canonize Black aesthetics, helping to authenticate it as a lens through which to practice architecture. Clarke is co-founder of a design practice that explores ways to unearth new aesthetics specific to African American culture, experience and identity.

Narges is a UCLA alumna who gained experience in student and community organizing as an active member of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Their background as a Muslim, queer person from an immigrant family from Libya has helped shape their understanding of community. Narges has worked as a trainer and coach for the California Conference for Equality and Justice. 

Find out more about this year’s activists and their plans.

View photos from the reception on Flickr.

Activists-in-Residence 2024

Master of Real Estate Development Receives Final Approval From UC The one-year degree program will stress instruction on the ethical underpinnings of a growing profession

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By Stan Paul and Les Dunseith

Beginning in the fall of 2025, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs will enroll students in a new Master of Real Estate Development, or MRED, program.

“We are delighted and excited to receive approval for the MRED, which we envision as building a better future for our cities,” said Interim Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, distinguished professor of urban planning. “We see the MRED as a transformative opportunity to train and diversify a new generation of real estate professionals who can best respond to the needs for more and more affordable housing, climate-adaptive and green-building technologies, and age-friendly developments.”

The Office of the President of the University of California notified the Luskin School of the degree’s final approval on Jan. 23. It has been working its way through the approval processes at UCLA and UC for about two years.

Led by Vinit Mukhija, a professor and former chair of urban planning, the program will be a one-year, full-time, self-supporting degree program that emphasizes the ethical underpinnings of a growing profession.

Mukhija said urban real estate development is “one of the most powerful forces shaping buildings, neighborhoods, cities and their suburbs, and metropolitan regions.

“From planning to finance to design, development decisions about what to build and where to build influence equity and urban sustainability in ways that are often neglected in traditional real estate development programs.”

 “Success in real estate development will require a nuanced understanding and ethical response to underlying environmental and social challenges.” —Professor Vinit Mukhija

The MRED will provide key practical skills, integrating students into real-world development projects. It will take advantage of UCLA’s location in the nation’s second-largest city, Los Angeles.

Mukhija also noted the profound role that development has in addressing global grand challenges.

“Success in real estate development will require a nuanced understanding and ethical response to underlying environmental and social challenges,” he said.

Coursework will be led by faculty experts from UCLA Urban Planning, the Anderson School of Management and UCLA Law. An inaugural class of 25 students is expected, growing to about 40 students in the program over time. 

The MRED will be a full-time (44 units minimum), primarily on-campus program spanning 11 months, with students in residence during the fall, winter and spring quarters, which is consistent with other real estate development programs in the United States. 

Applicants to the MRED program at UCLA Luskin must possess a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. At least two years of experience in real estate, urban development or a related field is preferred. 

Unlike other real estate development programs, Mukhija said the UCLA program will be distinguished with an Urban Development core requirement that situates the MRED program’s training within the broader terrain of urban governance and urban life, including the challenges and opportunities presented by concerns about equity and sustainability.

Mukhija expects that many of the applicants will be mid-career professionals who are not typically served by state-supported programs. A significant share of international applicants is anticipated, with some coming from countries with growing urbanization rates and thus facing  new challenges relating to urban growth.

In addition, the program proposes to prepare real estate development professionals who understand the fundamentals of development, as well as the context of urban development and the effect of real estate and urban development on urban life and economic opportunities.

Senate faculty will teach at least 30% of the courses, joined by distinguished and innovative real estate and urban development practitioners. These industry experts with practical experience in real estate will provide the development and experiential knowledge that is “crucial and essential for the holistic, integrative perspective that we intend to cultivate in our students,” according to the documentation prepared by UCLA Luskin in support of the program. 

Although situated within UCLA Luskin Urban Planning, coursework will also touch upon issues taught in the School’s social welfare, public policy and public affairs degree programs, which share a common thread of social justice and a desire to make society better. And the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies based at UCLA Luskin will play a role in the research component.

In addition to conducting research on real estate and urban development, the MRED students will receive training to become real estate development professionals who can recognize and address the challenges of inclusive urbanization.

“It’s part of our mission,” Mukhija said.

On the CSU Picket Line, Anger Over Pay Gap

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An LAist article on a strike by California State University faculty called on Urban Planning Professor Chris Tilly for insights on equitable pay. The strike by the union representing 29,000 coaches, counselors, lecturers, librarians and professors led to a tentative agreement after one day. However, many of the union members remain indignant over the salaries awarded to top executives — including the CSU chancellor’s compensation package, which is worth nearly $1 million and includes a $96,000 annual housing allowance. The stark pay gap between workers and executives is an issue across many labor sectors, Tilly said. “I think it’s a disgrace that the gap is that big. But I would not put that just on the CSU,” he said. “CEO pay is completely out of control. I think that it sort of spilled over to higher education, with the private higher education institutions in the lead.”

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A ‘Generation-Altering Moment’ in the Homelessness Crisis

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Marques Vestal, assistant professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, spoke to Capital B about an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine whether people experiencing homelessness can be issued jail time, tickets and fines for sleeping on the streets, even if there are no shelter alternatives available to them. If the court decides to uphold laws that target the unhoused, “it will be a generation-altering moment in urban history where cities are going to be able to enforce constitutional removal and displacement,” said Vestal, whose research includes the underlying causes of Black homelessness in Los Angeles. “We’re supposed to put people from encampments into either temporary or permanent housing. Instead, we’ll lose most of those people,” he said. “This will lead to a new regime of debt, and for Black folks, debt is always some kind of leverage for some other burying harm.”

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