Nature-Mimicking Infrastructure: 21st Century Technology?

Andy Lipkis, the founder and president of TreePeople, an organization in Los Angeles that brings natural concepts into the "urban forest", details his 40 years of work proving the feasibility of projects such as the Elmer Avenue Project.

2 minute read

December 3, 2010, 9:00 AM PST

By Anonymous (not verified)


The article features exclusive, in depth Q&A with Andy Lipkis, founder and president of TreePeople.

"My body of work up until now has been about proving feasibility where there have been significant barriers in the way of policy and funds. TreePeople has decided that it's time to step it up and catalyze a plan to retrofit all of Southern California on those principles-to make our region a functioning community forest."

"Most of our contributions rely on other people's innovations from other areas that were pulled together by us to do what's appropriate for Southern California. The street swale, for example, has been executed well in Seattle and Portland. In Seattle, it's called the SEA Streets (Street Edge Alternatives) Project. What's neat about this is that there's an ongoing, cross-pollination collaboration, because Seattle was forced to take this approach to restore salmon habitat throughout the city."

"We keep coming up against this. There are conceptual blocks. One is the belief that people won't change. Tim Brick, the outgoing head of MWD, worked very hard in his last couple of years. He brought in the Australians; he brought in stories of success. I don't understand why, even when the president of the board champions this approach, it hasn't stuck at the agencies. I can tell you my guess as to why: they're stuck in a command-and-control mode, where they might not appreciate that they can still have the same quality assurance and supply assurance through a distributed smart system."

Thanks to James Brasuell

Thursday, December 2, 2010 in The Planning Report

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Bend, Oregon

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing

The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

45 minutes ago - Strong Towns

Blue and silver Amtrak train with vibrant green and yellow foliage in background.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail

The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

1 hour ago - Smart Cities Dive

Green Skid Row mural satirizing city limit sign in downtown Los Angeles, California.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents

The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.

2 hours ago - Los Angeles Public Press