This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, back to the lower court for retrial. The high court found that the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment” does not apply to state and local ordinances restricting [homeless] encampments on public property and recommended that other legal arguments may be more suitable in this case.  The ruling applies only to states and localities within the Ninth Circuit.  

Moreover, the decision notes that “this case returns the hard task of solving the homeless crisis to state and local policymakers.”  According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, from 2019-2023, the number of people who entered emergency shelter for the first time increased more than 23 percent. Homeless response systems continue to add more temporary and permanent beds each year, but more resources are needed to combat the nationwide affordable housing crisis.  

Some landscape architects see a critical design role for the profession to help address the homeless crisis. University of Oregon Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture Yekang Ko and Design for Spatial Justice Fellow Cory Parker have found that the field of landscape architecture has a significant role to play in fortifying community resilience and alleviating homelessness, especially in a post-pandemic world. “Ultimately, landscape architects can contribute by addressing the broader housing crisis through innovative and collaborative design interventions for marginalized communities.” 

In 2017, Brice Maryman, FASLA was the recipient of the $25,000 Landscape Architecture Foundation Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership. His project explored the spatial manifestations of homelessness on the landscape, documented management approaches, and aimed to offer comprehensive, community‐based spatial strategies to create better, more successful public spaces for all. Maryman continues his work on the intersection of design and the unhoused.   

During the upcoming 2024 Conference on Landscape Architecture, ASLA is hosting an education session “Shifting Ground—Homelessness and the Fight for Equitable and Compassionate Design.”  The session, scheduled for Sunday, October 6th, 3:45pm-5:00 PM Eastern will feature Maryman, Jerome Chou, ASLA, Senior Planning Principal at Kounkuey Design Initiative, and Jean Yang, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.  Drawing from case studies, and ongoing and completed projects from around the country, this session offers strategies to help landscape architects understand the challenges and opportunities in designing more just public spaces in partnership with government, unhoused people, and other stakeholders.  

Register for the ASLA 2024 Conference on Landscape Architecture and join the conversation.