How Planning Can Redesign Los Angeles

"The city, with its greenfields long gone, needs to house its growing population smartly -- to creatively infill rather than assume sprawl is still an available strategy. So, city planning has become more essential as scores of urban infill development projects are proposed and neighborhoods and commercial hubs are asked to accept more density. If Los Angeles is to remain livable, planning inevitably must emerge as a city priority."

"We, today, are in a rare moment when it's possible to proactively fashion the future of the city and create residential communities unlike the low density, single and multi-family housing with privatized open space that dominated Los Angeles for decades. We now must consider and plan for the common good of the city; each project must take responsibility not only for its own design but also for its contribution to a larger framework in the creation of a neighborhood and a community."

"Mixed-use and transit-oriented development are adding a layer to our city that we haven't experienced before. And we wonder whether L.A. will remain a hotbed of creativity as the city becomes more urban, more mature and more reflective and begins to draw upon its memory rather than be totally independent in its influences. When we looked at entries for the AIA design awards, we found that the ideas are much more diverse and exploratory today than they were 30 years ago. L.A. will remain a creative 'hotbed,' except that new solutions will be more contextually driven."

Thanks to Josh Stephens