urban planning

Community Engagement Post #2: On being genuine and building trust

by Patricia Quintero Estades

Building trust is paramount for genuine community engagement

As I mentioned in our first community engagement post, Arnstein’s article on citizen participation (1969) shows us that there are wrong and illegitimate ways to do community or stakeholder engagement. In my research and my classes at Price, I’ve found that the first step to a legitimate process seems to be a legitimate desire by the engager to listen to the stakeholders and take their input into account when making decisions.

Metro trying vendor marketplace at Westlake/MacArthur Park station

by Bedrosian Center

The Macarthur Park street market will run as a year-long pilot program and could be expanded if it is successful. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the program will increase accessibility and safety at the station and eliminate vendors who don’t have permits. Lisa Schweitzer, a University of Southern California urban planning professor,…

The Ethics of Governing

by Anthony W. Orlando

PhD candidate Anthony Orlando discusses the “Ethics of Democracy” in the latest episode of Our American Discourse.

Democracy is a dialogue. It requires our leaders to ask, to listen, and to react. Good governance thus hinges on conversation and consent—and whether we like it or not, conflict. Planners and policymakers have to balance competing needs, never more so than in today’s polarized environment. How do they do the right thing? Does such a thing even exist? Citizenship demands that we engage with these uncomfortable questions, especially in this troubled era.

Listen to this episode of Our American Discourse by clicking on the orange play arrow on this post, or subscribe at iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

The City & The City

by Bedrosian Center

The City and The City by China Miéville is a noir detective murder mystery set in an urban fantasy landscape where the cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma are not just neighboring, but enmeshed in overlapping space. What begins as a question of whether the young woman’s murderer transferred the body between the cities illegally (Breach) becomes a…

Falletta course listed in The 7 Best Sustainable Design Courses in America

by Bedrosian Center

Metropolis Magazine, in a story about the best sustainable design courses at universities, mentioned the USC Price School’s real estate development graduate course, “Design History and Criticism,’ taught by Liz Falletta. One of the most interesting courses chosen is offered as part of a Real Estate Development program at the University of Southern California. A…

Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles

by Bedrosian Center

This episode features a discussion of David Ulin’s Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles. A transplant to Los Angeles from New York, Ulin’s long essay/memoir is a meditation on moving through and defining his relationship with the sprawling diversity that is the City of Angels. The book begins with an essay on how walking can be a way to discover the city (any city or town) through serendipity.

Architecture 2030 selects Falletta course in pilot curriculum project

by Bedrosian Center

Bedrosian Faculty Affiliate Liz Falletta‘s course Design History & Criticism is one of seven courses selected to participate in the pilot phase of the 2030 Curriculum Project by Architecture 2030. The initiative will support university courses that “fully integrate lessons in energy use, emissions, and resiliency into the widest possible range of projects and topic…

Can LA Lead in Transportation Innovation? A Conversation with Ashley Hand

by Brettany Shannon

Love to hate LA traffic?

Listen to recent Transportation Technology Strategist Fellow Ashley Hand @azhandkc to learn about her Urban Mobility in a Digital Age report, and the city’s tech- and not tech-based future.