As the turbulent ’60s gave way to the 1970s, the study of urban planning got its start at UCLA. Fifty years later, the program’s activist ethos and focus on equity endure. This spring, UCLA Luskin Urban Planning hosted a series of events marking half-a-century of making a difference in Los Angeles and cities around the world. The commemoration culminated on Saturday, May 14, with a “Celebration of 50 (Plus!) Years of UCLA Urban Planning.”
EVENTS
LUSKIN LECTURE / PERLOFF LECTURE: ROBERT BULLARD
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 6:15 p.m. PDT
Bruin Viewpoint Room, Ackerman Union
The Quest for Environmental and Climate Justice — Often described as the father of environmental justice, Professor Robert Bullard of Texas Southern University is a renowned advocate for those who suffer the earliest and most damaging setbacks from climate change simply because of where they live. His presentation will focus on empowering vulnerable populations in the United States and ensuring that climate change mitigation is fair and equitable. He’ll draw on his background in urban planning and public policy to discuss emergency management, community resilience and disaster recovery strategies, offering a framework to dismantle the systemic racism that perpetuates inequality and vulnerability.
MEYER AND RENEE LUSKIN LECTURE SERIES
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
THE LEGACY OF MARTY WACHS
FRIDAY, MAY 13
Panel Discussions, 1 – 4:30 p.m., DeCafe, Perloff Hall
Reception, 4:30 – 6 p.m., Perloff Quad
For better than half a century, Professor Martin Wachs was a leading educator, researcher and influencer of transportation policy and planning at UCLA, UC Berkeley and the Rand Corp. This afternoon event will bring together some of his many former students, colleagues and friends to reflect on his impact as a teacher and mentor, his legacy as a planning and transportation scholar, and his dedication to influencing policy and practice for the better.
CELEBRATION OF 50 (PLUS!) YEARS OF UCLA URBAN PLANNING
SATURDAY, MAY 14
RECEPTION, KEYNOTE ADDRESS, PANELS, CELEBRATION
50 Years of Scholarship to Solutions
WELCOME AND RECEPTION
1:30 p.m. PDT
Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Kerckhoff Hall
KEYNOTE LECTURE BY DOLORES HAYDEN
and PANEL DISCUSSIONS
2 – 4 p.m. PDT
Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Kerckhoff Hall
Dolores Hayden is professor emerita of architecture, urbanism and American studies at Yale University. She is a renowned scholar of the history of the American urban landscape and the politics of place, and her works have been translated into over a dozen languages. A former president of the Urban History Association and a fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians, Hayden has received many honors for her scholarship, books and poetry. She has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and many other organizations.
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
CECILIA ESTOLANO, PANEL MODERATOR
Cecilia Estolano MA UP ’91 will moderate panel discussions with Urban Planning faculty, Ph.D. students and alumni who are currently working at research centers housed at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Estolano is the CEO and founder of Estolano Advisors, an urban planning and public policy firm, and CEO of Better World Group, an environmental policy and advocacy firm. She has worked directly with public, private, institutional and nonprofit clients to plan, finance, design, implement and operate policy-driven programs and projects that promote sustainable solutions tailored for each community. Estolano served as a member of the UC Board of Regents from 2018 until March 2022.
URBAN PLANNING AT 50 CELEBRATION
5 – 8 p.m. PDT
UCLA Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden
Join your fellow alumni and favorite faculty members to commemorate over 50 years of UCLA Urban Planning!
PERLOFF LECTURE: MARINA ALBERTI
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 12:30 p.m.
Zoom
Urban Resilience in an Eco-Evolutionary Perspective — Marina Alberti is a professor of urban ecology and planning at the University of Washington, where she serves as director of the Urban Ecology Research Lab. Alberti’s research focuses on the interactions between urban development patterns and ecosystem function, and the properties of urbanizing regions that enhance their resilience and socio-ecological innovation. She leads an NSF-funded research network to study the impact of cities on Earth’s eco-evolutionary dynamics. In her book, “Cities That Think Like Planets,” Alberti advances a science of cities that work on a planetary scale and link unpredictable dynamics to the potential for socio-ecological innovation.
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
PERLOFF LECTURE: MICHAEL MÉNDEZ
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 12:30 p.m.
Room 5391, UCLA Luskin Public Affairs Building
Tainted Grapes, Tainted Lungs: Extreme Wildfire Impacts to Undocumented Latina/o and Indigenous Migrants — As climate change advances, communities across the United States are adapting to the increasing threat of wildfires. In this lecture, Michael Méndez, assistant professor of environmental policy and planning at UC Irvine, explores why it is crucial to understand how climate disasters amplify existing inequalities and how to lessen the resulting harms, in particular for stigmatized populations including undocumented Latino/a and Indigenous migrants. A visiting scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Méndez was previously a faculty fellow at the Yale School of the Environment and has more than a decade of experience in the public and private sectors.
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
UC REGENTS’ LECTURE: NITHYA RAMAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 6 p.m. PDT
Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Kerckhoff Hall
Building a Community of Yes for a More Equitable Los Angeles — We know how to motivate people at the voting booth. Now, how do we keep the electorate engaged to achieve a greater L.A.? Hear from Nithya Raman, urban planner, working mother, immigrant to America and member of the Los Angeles City Council representing District 4. In 2020, Raman became the first Asian American woman and the first South Asian ever to serve on the City Council. Her priorities include delivering compassionate and effective services for people experiencing homelessness, building more affordable housing and moving urgently to meet the city’s climate goals.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA REGENTS’ LECTURE
PERLOFF LECTURE: DALE JAMIESON
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 12:30 p.m.
Bruin Viewpoint Room, Ackerman Union
Climate, Carbon and What Really Matters — Dale Jamieson is a professor of environmental studies and philosophy at New York University, where he serves as director of the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection. He is affiliated with NYU’s schools of law, medicine and global public health, and has held visiting appointments at the National Center for Atmospheric Research as well as several universities in the United States and abroad. Jamieson’s recent work concerns the nature and uses of love, political theory for the anthropocene, the prospects for progressive consequentialism, and the various complex relationships between environmental and animal protection, especially in relation to food and conservation.
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
UC REGENTS’ LECTURE / PERLOFF LECTURE: ELIZABETH YEAMPIERRE
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 6 p.m. PDT
Zoom
Climate Justice: Building the Path for a Just Transition — Front-line communities from Puerto Rico to Guam and Brooklyn to the Bay face unprecedented extreme weather disruption while navigating systems bent on maintaining the status quo. Elizabeth Yeampierre, an internationally recognized environmental and climate justice leader, calls for a different kind of governance, different economies of scale and solutions that address renewable energy, food sovereignty and deep democracy while addressing the discriminatory legacy of toxic exposure in our communities. The attorney and co-chair of the nonprofit Climate Justice Alliance is part of an intergenerational movement that puts racial justice and equity at the core.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA REGENTS’ LECTURE
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
CO-SPONSORED BY THE UCLA LUSKIN INSTITUTE ON INEQUALITY AND DEMOCRACY
PERLOFF LECTURE: KAREN SETO
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 12:30 p.m.
Room 2343, UCLA Luskin Public Affairs Building
Urbanization and the Planet: Current Trends — Karen Seto is a professor of geography and urbanization science at the Yale School of the Environment. Seto’s central research focus is how urbanization will affect the planet. A geographer by training, she integrates satellite remote sensing analysis, field interviews and modeling methods to study urbanization and land change, forecast urban growth, and examine the environmental consequences of urban expansion. Seto’s research has generated new insights on the interaction between urbanization and food systems, the effects of urban expansion on biodiversity and cropland loss, urban energy use and emissions, and urban mitigation of climate change.
HARVEY S. PERLOFF ENVIRONMENTAL THINKERS SERIES
The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and Southern Channel Islands). As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (ancestors), ‘Aniihirom (elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.
