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U.S. freeways have come under scrutiny for their adverse impacts on low-income neighborhoods of color, primarily in urban centers. This article offers a comparative historical analysis of the impact of freeways on two communities in Southern California, which were ethnically diverse suburbs. Planning authorities in Pasadena and Pacoima chose freeway routes that displaced a greater share of households of color than the proposed alternatives. Meanwhile, neighboring white, wealthier communities successfully influenced routing decisions in consequential ways. Beyond the visible and immediate effects of the freeways, social inequity and environmental degradation persist in both neighborhoods today.

This study discusses the potential economic and development impacts that high-speed rail (HSR) may bring to California. The research reviews the reported impacts of HSR implementation in various countries, particularly in Europe, and case studies of selected HSR station-cities in France, Spain, and Italy. The analysis suggests that HSR could bring economic development to the state and stimulate population growth but might eventually lead to gentrification in certainlocations. Not all station-cities experience the same impacts, and certain conditions may foster greater economic development. Station location and connectivity to downtown areas would be particularly important in influencing these impacts, while peripheral stations would be less able to attract land use development and relocation of activities. The availability of rail service to larger cities (and connections to other major markets) and the coordination with urban planning and policy are key to determining the development of areas around HSR stations. The study indicates that for HSR to bring about desired economic development, the planning and design of stations and services must be integrated with the vision and urban plans of each station-city.

In this study, we use the concept of “sidewalk ecologies” to highlight the complex interaction between spatially situated social and material features of sidewalks that influence youth mobility. We use a range of interdisciplinary strategies, emphasizing youth-centered research methods and mapping to capture a rich portrait of the independent travel experiences, perceptions, and ideas of youth, in their own voices. This research was conducted in partnership with Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA), a communitybased organization in Westlake that provides after-school programming to thousands of neighborhood youths, and yielded important findings.

The increase of wildfire disasters globally has highlighted the need to understand and mitigate human vulnerability to wildfire. In response, there has been a substantial uptick in efforts to characterize and quantify wildfire vulnerability. Such efforts have largely focused on quantifying potential wildfire exposure and frequently overlooked the individual and community vulnerability to wildfire. Here, we review the emergent literature on social vulnerability to wildfire by synthesizing factors related to exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity that contribute to a population's or community's overall vulnerability to wildfires. We identify how those factors subsequently affect an individual's or community's agency to enact change, and highlight that many of the current paradigms for reducing wildfire vulnerability fail to acknowledge and address the importance of inequalities that create differential vulnerability. We suggest that paying attention to the systems and conditions that give rise to such vulnerability can ameliorate these shortcomings by centering solutions which address adaptation equity rather than landscape outcomes.

In recent decades, homelessness has become an increasingly major challenge in the U.S., reaching about half million unhoused people. Many of them seek shelter in settings such as freeways, underpasses, and rest areas. State departments of transportation (DOTs) are responsible for the health and safety of these settings and their occupants, housed and unhoused. This study synthesizes existing literature and findings from interviews with staff from 13 state DOTs and eight service providers and organizations responding to homelessness. Homelessness represents a recognized and common challenge for DOTs, which face jurisdictional, financial, and legal hurdles in addressing it. DOT staff employ both “push” and “pull” strategies, the most common of which is encampment removals (“sweeps”). However, the effectiveness of such removals is limited, as encampments often reappear in nearby sites. Other strategies include “defensive design” and, more proactively, establishing or partnering with low-barrier shelters, providing shelters and sanitation on DOT land, and coordinating rehousing and outreach efforts. Our findings suggest that DOTs should acquire better data on homelessness on their lands, create a homelessness coordinating office, establish formal partnerships with nonprofits/service providers, and evaluate the necessity of encampment removals, through the development and utilization of prioritization criteria.

California's freeways have come under increasing scrutiny for their disproportionately adverse impacts on lowincome populations and populations of color. This study uses empirical research to not only understand but also quantify and describe in detail the historical impacts of freeways on communities of color in four California cities and areas: Pasadena, Pacoima, Sacramento, and San José. In these neighborhoods, freeways displaced many residents, significantly harmed those that remained, and left communities divided and depleted. The four cases differ in notable ways, but they share a disproportionate impact of freeway construction on communities of color. In Pasadena and Pacoima, decision-makers chose routes that displaced a greater share of households of color than proposed alternatives.Demolition and displacement were the most visible and immediate effects of the freeways, but toxic pollution, noise, economic decline, and stigmatization remained long after. In suburban areas, white, affluent interests often succeeded in pushing freeways to more powerless neighborhoods. Massive roadway construction complemented other destructive governmental actions such as urban renewal and redlining. Freeways and suburbanization were key components in the creation of a spatial mismatch between jobs and housing for people of color, with few transportation options to overcome it. Understanding the history of racism in freeway development can inform restorative justice in these areas.

In recent decades, homelessness has become an increasingly major challenge in the U.S. Of the half million unhoused people in the U.S., many seek shelter in settings under the auspices of state departments of transportation (DOTs), such as freeways, underpasses, and rest areas. DOTs are responsible for the health and safety of these settings and of their occupants, housed and unhoused.This study synthesizes existing literature and findings from interviews with staff from 13 state DOTs and eight service providers and organizations responding to homelessness. Homelessness represents a recognized and common challenge for DOTs, but the numbers and location of unhoused individuals in state transportation settings vary and fluctuate. As DOTs face jurisdictional, financial, and legal hurdles in responding, DOT staff employ both “push” and “pull” strategies, the most common of which is encampment removals. However, the effectiveness of such removals is limited. Other strategies include “defensive design” and, more proactively, establishing or partnering with low-barrier shelters, providing shelters and sanitation on DOT land, and coordinating rehousing and outreach efforts. Our findings suggest that DOTs should acquire better data on homelessness on their lands, create a homelessness coordinating office, establish formal partnerships with nonprofits/service providers, and evaluate the necessity of encampment removals, through the development and utilization of prioritization criteria. DOTs should coordinate with other bodies as they work towards broader housing solutions.

More than 500,000 people experience homelessness in the United States, and many turn to transit vehicles, stops, and stations for shelter. We present findings from a survey of 115 U.S. and Canadian transit operators that inquired about homelessness on transit systems. We find that homelessness is broadly present, though more concentrated on central hotspots, and worsened during the pandemic. In response, transit agencies often initiate a combination of punitive and outreach strategies. Based on our findings, we argue for better data collection, establishment of policies and protocols, engagement in outreach strategies, and partnering with service providers.

Buses, bus stops, trains, and train platforms represent sites of shelter for many of the over 500,000 Americans who are unhoused every night. This study seeks to understand how transit agencies are responding to them. Based on interviews with staff members and partners at 10 different transit agencies and on program performance data, where available, we provide detailed case studies of four sets of strategies taken in response to homelessness on transit systems: hub of services, mobile outreach, discounted fares, and transportation to shelters. We analyze each strategy’s scope, implementation, impact, challenges, and lessons learned. Reviewing these strategies, we note that they may differ depending on the context, need, and available resources. We find value in transit agencies fostering external partnerships with social service organizations and other municipal departments and keeping law enforcement distinct from routine homeless outreach. We also underline the key need for funding from other levels of government to allow transit operators to adopt, expand, and refine homelessness response programs.

More than half a million people in the U.S. experience homelessness every day. Lacking other options, many turn to transit vehicles, stops, and stations for shelter. Many also ride public transit to reach various destinations. With affordable housing scarce and the numbers of unhoused individuals often surpassing the capacities of existing safety nets and support systems, transit operators face homelessness as a pressing issue on their systems and must implement policy measures from other realms beyond transportation to address it. Because of the health and safety implications for transit of the COVID-19 pandemic and the anticipated further rise in homelessness from the resulting economic downturn, studying and responding to the needs of these vulnerable travelers is critical.We conduct a comprehensive literature review to identify articles discussing homelessness in transit systems. While only a handful of articles exist from the 1990s, there is an emerging literature in the last 20 years that examines different aspects of homelessness in transit systems. We identify and review 63 articles on homelessness in transit systems and other public settings to better understand the extent of homelessness in the U.S., and how transit agencies perceive its impacts. We also summarise literature findings on the travel patterns of unsheltered individuals, which show that public transit represents an important and common mode of travel for them. Lastly, we focus on responses to homelessness from the part of transit operators. We find two types of responses: 1) punitive, in which criminalisation, policing and enforcement of laws and codes of conduct prevail, and 2) outreach-related, which aim towards providing help and support to unsheltered individuals. We conclude by summarising our findings as well as the existing gaps in the literature.

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Planning Education & Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Intergenerational public spaces respond to the needs of both youth and older adults and actively foster interaction, engagement, and understanding between generations. We consider how incorporating an ethic of care into intergenerational public space planning and design could support ongoing practices of care for people and places. We present a framework for a revised approach to intergenerational public space design that centers the practices and potential of care throughout a project’s scope, context, process, practice, and evaluation. Drawing on a study of a new pocket park in Los Angeles, we operationalize this quinquepartite framework to demonstrate how incorporating care can support participatory processes, material infrastructures, and programming interventions that advance justice in intergenerational public spaces, particularly in disinvested communities. We argue that an ethic of care exhibits strong compatibility with the principles of intergenerationality, and ought to be made more central in efforts to plan, design, and program urban public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential displacement impacts the quality of life, health, and economic outlook for households. Yet, there is little evidence on how housing policy works to prevent displacement. This literature review examines how 12 housing policies, encompassing household/neighborhood stabilization, affordable housing preservation, and housing production, mitigate displacement. We conclude that stabilization strategies have the most direct and immediate effect on mitigating direct displacement, while housing production and preservation strategies can decrease indirect and/or exclusionary displacement. However, production policies typically require strong markets and longer time spans. Though more research is needed, local governments can still leverage housing policies to prevent displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underprivileged urban communities often have less parks than wealthier communities. Even when new parks are built and are physically accessible to such communities, park design and programming is often undertaken without community input and may result in psychologically inaccessible parks. To address this problem, the California Department of Parks and Recreation piloted a community outreach intervention in a newly created Los Angeles park. It employed the promotores model, which uses community members as outreach ambassadors. Using participant observations, interviews, and a survey, we evaluated the intervention's success in recruiting and training promotores, organizing community outreach, and making the park more accessible to underprivileged communities. We found that the promotores helped increase community involvement in park programming, thus enhancing procedural justice, and also helped enhance park use by previously underrepresented groups. We conclude with recommendations about how the promotores model can be improved and used more effectively in park planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant scholarship has focused on accommodating diverse age groups in urban public environments. However, intergenerational approaches emphasizing engagement between generations represent an emerging area of research and practice. This review synthesizes literature from urban planning and cognate fields on the need for and benefits of intergenerational public space, as well as design and policy interventions. The results advance understanding of how public environments could meet the needs of both youth and older adults while also serving as the context for cross-generational interaction, and offer insights to planners, designers, and policymakers seeking to develop, enhance, or expand intergenerational public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined land use and design controls in three municipalities in Los Angeles County (CA)—Alhambra, Arcadia, and San Gabriel—that have experienced a recent influx of Asian residents. We drew from archival research of newspaper articles, planning documents, city council and planning commission meeting minutes, and interviews with 14 local planners, architects, planning and design review commissioners, and resident groups. We found that the three cities developed stringent development controls, encouraged Anglo or Spanish heritage architectural styles, and issued new guidelines and ordinances during the period of changing demographics. These actions often stemmed from White residents' fear of losing their neighborhoods and interest in maintaining their existing landscapes. We detail here four contestations relating to mansionization, architectural styles, historic preservation, and massage parlors. The study is important for planning practice because it shows that development controls and design guidelines may be developed in reaction to increased anxieties about immigration and in ways that counteract the interests and values of some minority residents. Planners in ethnically diverse communities need to be aware of and respond to the possible exclusionary effects of design and land use controls. They need to better listen to newcomers' concerns, integrate their voices in decision making, and educate both newcomers and long-time residents about the importance of each other's cultural heritage. Planners may seek to exercise professional ingenuity in developing and implementing design and planning regulations that better balance spatial identities and accommodate conflicting tastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is a framework that drives cities' responses to climate change, evidenced by the increasing number of resilience plans that cities have adopted. Resilience plans can offer insights on how cities conceptualize resilience. We undertake a content analysis of 38 resilience plans of US cities to understand how they define resilience, conceptualize goals and implementation strategies, involve the public in their formulation, and address equity issues. We find that equity manifests in explicit and implicit ways throughout the plans but is rarely operationalized. Cities gather many social, environmental, physical and economic goals under the term resilience, which may imply a recognition of the complexity of urban systems but renders those goals ineffective. The majority of resilience plans advocate a quick return to a previous state in the face of a disturbance, forgoing the opportunity to take on the more transformative potential of the term towards a more equitable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility and technology can facilitate in-person and virtual social participation to help reduce social isolation, but issues exist regarding older adults' access, feasibility, and motivation to use various forms of mobility and technology. This qualitative study explores how a diverse group of low-income, urban-living older adults use mobility and technology for social participation. We conducted six focus groups (N = 48), two each in English, Spanish, and Korean at a Los Angeles senior center. Three major themes emerged from thematic analysis: using technology for mobility; links between mobility and social participation; and technology-mediated social participation. Cost, perceived safety, (dis)ability, and support from family and friends were related to mobility and technology use. This study demonstrates the range of mobility and technology uses among older adults and associated barriers. The findings can help establish a pre-COVID-19 baseline on how to make mobility and technology more accessible for older adults at risk of isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports variation in safety perceptions in transit environments, based on samples of university students in 18 cities on six continents who responded to an identical 45-question survey (N = 13,323 university students). We explore potential links between students' fears and sexual victimization and conclude that sexual harassment affects their behavior and mobility. Student mobility was affected by avoidance strategies prompting some transit riders to travel at particular times, on travel routes and settings that are deemed especially risky, or even avoiding using transit completely. Findings highlight the importance of city–country contexts for transit safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. freeways have come under scrutiny for their adverse impacts on low-income neighborhoods of color, primarily in urban centers. This article offers a comparative historical analysis of the impact of freeways on two communities in Southern California, which were ethnically diverse suburbs. Planning authorities in Pasadena and Pacoima chose freeway routes that displaced a greater share of households of color than the proposed alternatives. Meanwhile, neighboring white, wealthier communities successfully influenced routing decisions in consequential ways. Beyond the visible and immediate effects of the freeways, social inequity and environmental degradation persist in both neighborhoods today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]