ANALYSIS AND PLANNING EXCELLENCE AWARD Public Space as Catalyst for the Regeneration of South Los Angeles Raphael Garcia, Student ASLA, Sarah Lopez, Student ASLA, Leslie Lum, Student ASLA and Ana Tabuena, Student ASLA California State Polytechnic University Pomona, Pomona, California Faculty Advisors: Joan H. Woodward, FASLA; Ken McCown, ASLA; Philip N. Pregill, ASLA; Doug Delgado

	"Brilliant! Excellent detailing that makes it a useful model for similar neighborhoods. The methodology is very good and represents an enormous amount of work. The analysis is professional quality. " — 2008 Student Awards Jury Comments

Project Statement:

One billion dollars of investment and fifteen years after the 1992 civil unrest, South Los (aka South Central) still remains one of the most disadvantaged areas in the City of Los Angeles suffering from environmental pollution, negative public perception, and economic disinvestment. Today’s favorable political landscape recognizes that South Los Angeles’ transformation begins with its public spaces. This project utilizes a multi-scale, multi-benefit, implementable plan to spark the regeneration of South Los Angeles.

Project Goals and Objectives:

This graduate project involves a multi-scale approach to revitalizing a 13-square-mile area of South Los Angeles designated by the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) as Council District Nine Corridors South of the Santa Monica Freeway (CD9 Corridors). It is adjacent to major transportation corridors and the historic urban core of the City of Los Angeles. Within this expanse is a widespread condition that is emblematic of the rest of South Los Angeles and of many dense cities in the United States – numerous major commercial thoroughfares flanked by single and multi-family homes with concentrations of industrial land that lack green space and public space. The area suffers from environmental pollution, negative public perception and economic disinvestment, which have left their marks on the physical environment. Environmental pollution, a by-product of deindustrialization where once thriving industrial cores have left behind toxic and material waste, threatens the long-term health and well-being of the residents that remain. Economic disinvestment, which began even before the Watts civil unrest in 1965 because of deindustrialization and suburban flight, intensified further because of the negative public perception that developed after the Watts civil unrest and the ensuing April 1992 unrest. In 2003, the City of Los Angeles changed the area’s official name from South Central Los Angeles to South Los Angeles in hopes of erasing negative associations with violence and blight. At the same time, former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley and former California Governor Pete Wilson organized Rebuild LA to attract investments into South Los Angeles. One billion dollars and fifteen years later, South Los Angeles still remains one of the most disadvantaged areas in the City of Los Angeles. This is because minimal attention was paid to the deeper issues that plague the area. South Los Angeles suffers from an impaired network of conditions that make prosperity possible. This network of conditions includes safe streets and green spaces for children to play. Today, South Los Angeles is the focus of rebuilding efforts resulting from a favorable political landscape and numerous developments occurring throughout its surrounding areas. The majority of the Project Area falls within the purview of the Southeast Los Angeles Community Plan, one of thirty-five geographically-based Community Plans that broadly outline land use development. The Community Plan is one of the elements that compose the General Plan, mandated by the State of California. The General Plan guides the development of the City of Los Angeles and has not been comprehensively updated for thirty years. The plan includes elements such as Open Space, Air Quality and Conservation. The City of Los Angeles is currently working with the CRA/LA on updating the Community Plan for this area. The process includes community meetings to determine the scope of changes necessary and recommendations for changes in land use. The revised plan will include ways of addressing land use inconsistencies and outline how to proceed with improving the quality of life for South Los Angeles residents by creating jobs, housing, and other amenities. Revisions to the plan are scheduled to be completed in 2009. This offers an opportunity to revisit the deeper issues that were not addressed previously. Ensuring that public spaces are built into the framework of existing and future developments where community and development interests are balanced offers a starting point for the area’s regeneration.

The project’s goal is to find public space opportunities in the CD9 Corridors that will address environmental pollution, negative public perception, and economic disinvestment. The project’s primary objective is to create immediate and tangible evidence of positive change that can be perceived at multiple scales. This is carried out by 1) identifying a network of catalyst demonstration areas in the Project Area (CD9 Corridors); 2) selecting one of the catalyst areas to be the Demonstration Area (Slauson Avenue); and 3) applying detailed public space strategies to a series of Demonstration Sites within the Demonstration Area (Hawkins Park Mixed-Use Neighborhood and the Furniture and Decorative Arts Industrial Park.) We identified the following issues and objectives specific to public space based on the larger issues of environmental pollution, negative public perception, and economic disinvestment faced by the Project Area:

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

COMMUNITY NEEDS AND LAND USE

 SAFETY, COMFORT, AND SENSE OF PLACE

KINDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DATA COLLECTED AND ANALYZED
Project Area-scale data included:  information on council district political boundaries, community planning areas, a sampling of current development projects and initiatives in the Project Area and in adjacent downtown Los Angeles, demographic and economic information from the 2000 U.S. Census, sources of air pollution for the region from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) 2006 Report, transportation corridors from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority, identified toxic sites and soil pollution data from an interview with the Department of Toxic Substance Control of the State of California and its 2007 Envirostar Database, land use maps, watershed maps, groundwater basins map, soil textures, and hydrologic soil groups from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Los Angeles flood plains and areas of flooding from the 2007 Federal Emergency Management Agency, crime and gang territory maps from the Los Angeles Police Department, maps showing locations of underutilized peripheral spaces, community anchors, including existing parks came from the CRA/LA. Data for both the Demonstration Area-scale and Demonstration Sites-scale included information on potential incompatible land use, transportation circulation, locations of existing community anchors, development interests, and peripheral spaces from the CRA/LA, the 2007 City of Los Angeles Survey and Mapping Division, and the County of Los Angeles GIS Mapping.  A map also shows the City-designated Furniture and Decorative Arts District, which encompasses most of the Demonstration Area.  Data on the existing stormwater management system was also utilized at the Demonstration Site-scale.  Numerous site visits and interviews with local residents, non-profits, community groups, and city officials from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Department of City Planning informed our project at every scale.

METHODS OF ANALYSIS
At the Project Area-scale, analysis focused on identifying catalyst demonstration areas that will spark the formation of a denser network of public spaces throughout an urban expanse that does not have an identifiable center.  Demonstration Area-scale analysis considered one of the most heavily-used corridors, Slauson Avenue, a main east-west connector through South Los Angeles, which when developed can showcase immediate and tangible results that renewal is underway.  Demonstration Sites-scale analysis focused on public space strategies that can be applied throughout the Project Area.  This included analysis of urban heat island effect and strategies for mitigation, information regarding the planting densities of trees to cool the air, pollutants of concern and allowable pathways, methods for managing polluted soil, stormwater best management practice, the best clustering of community anchors, physical requirements and activities of impromptu street vending, and highlighting the importance of existing industry, which can provide a positive identity for the area.

HOW OPTIONS WERE CONSIDERED
At the Project Area-scale, catalyst demonstration areas were selected based on available developable land, adjacency to current and planned developments, and based on their location, the ability to fill in the gaps between existing parks and connect existing community anchors.  The selection of Slauson Avenue as the Demonstration Area was based on five criteria that address critical issues and capture a range of conditions that exists throughout the Project Area.  They are the presence of:  potential incompatible land uses, community anchors, development interest, peripheral spaces, and transportation corridor.  The Demonstration Sites of Hawkins Park Mixed-Use Neighborhood and the Furniture and Decorative Arts Industrial Park reinforced the idea of clustering community anchors and providing a positive identity for South Los Angeles.  Additionally, specific public space strategies applied at the Demonstration Sites-scale can be employed in other Demonstration Areas with additional analysis for site-specific concerns.

HOW INTERESTED PARTIES WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PROJECT
The success of this project requires the on-going participation and collaboration of many players.  During the project our team and our client, the CRA/LA, have engaged the participation of a diverse group of stakeholders that included the following concerned individuals, non-profits, community groups, grassroots organizations involved with the community, and government agencies:  City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Department of Toxic Substance Control, Los Angeles Police Department, Neighborhood Councils, and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a non-profit concerned with economic justice and gentrification issues.  Meetings and workshops were also held with parents and children to obtain first-hand accounts of current activities in public spaces and changes they wish to see in their neighborhoods.  Presentations were also made to the Community Advisory Committee.  To date, the graduate project has been used to obtain various funding for public health, housing, and additional public spaces for the CD9 Corridors and presentations have been made using elements from the project to the Board of Commissioners of the CRA/LA.  In addition, one member of the student graduate team continues to work with the CRA/LA in providing additional public space designs for the rest of the Demonstration Area catalyst sites. 

HOW DESIGN WAS USED IN THE PROCESS
Design at the Demonstration Area-scale of Slauson Avenue focused on connecting development occurring or planned in adjacent areas, and strengthening existing community anchors of public transportation, schools, parks, and grocery stores.  The design also provided a platform to showcase positive aspects of South Los Angeles that currently is not apparent, such as its Furniture and Decorative Arts District.  Proposed development of Hawkins Mixed-Used Neighborhood and the Furniture and Decorative Arts Industrial Park can work together to support each other and adjacent planned developments.  Site-scale design considered existing stormwater management system, and existing site opportunities and constraints to create multi-benefit public spaces.  Cumulatively, design strategies used along the Demonstration Area of Slauson Avenue and the Demonstration Sites can impact the rest of the Project Area because the issues are interconnected and addressing one issue affects another.

HOW THE PROJECT WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED
Because of the decentralized physical nature of the Project Area, catalyst Demonstration Areas should be developed as land and funding becomes available for that particular Demonstration Area.  At the Demonstration Area-scale, establishing the open air market for the Hawkins Park Mixed-Use Neighborhood would be a relatively easy initial intervention to an area that is already supported by a variety of land uses, a well-used Metro rail stop, a nature park, and a grocery store.  Later the actual mixed-use neighborhood can be established.  At the Furniture and Decorative Arts Industrial Park, related businesses can be given incentives to relocate there as land becomes available, until eventually a cluster of these types of businesses can create a well-recognized industrial park that showcases local furniture and decorative arts talent.  Later a partnership can be made between the industrial park and schools through youth training and employment, thus strengthening existing and new community anchors. 

HOW THE PROJECT WILL BE ADMINISTERED AND/OR MONITORED
Vital to the project's administration is laying out the groundwork for implementation.  The expertise and drive of key players are crucial.  This gives energy to the project, sustaining it through obstacles it may encounter in the process of realization.  The first step is community engagement at the outset.  Next is collaboration among multiple levels of government and grassroots/community organizations.  Employing traditional and innovative funding strategies can further aid in administration of the project.  Lastly, demonstration projects can aid administration of the plan by instilling the project vision in the public's mind winning support and additional funding for the rest of the project.  Based on Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation, demonstration projects should possess the following characteristics to increase the likelihood of the idea to spread throughout the Project Area:  1) Relative Advantage - if an idea is shown to be more beneficial than previous ideas, then it will be more likely to be embraced by potential users; 2) Trialibility - the rate of acceptance of an idea can be influenced by trying out the idea in a controlled setting, such as in a test site; 3) Observability - if potential users can see the idea at work, they are more likely to accept the idea; 4) Compatibility with Existing Methods - the public's familiarity with an innovative method contributes to a favorable response to that innovation; and 5) Complexity - acceptance of new ideas is impeded if potential users view obstacles in taking on the new ideas.