Future of Streets in Los Angeles

The Future of Streets studio in Los Angeles will investigate the impact of new mobility technologies on the built environment of LA, seeking solutions that maximize multi-modal, socially inclusive, and environmentally sustainable outcomes for the city. The studio will focus on sites surrounding the Expo Line, leading from downtown LA to downtown Santa Monica and explore how the experience of urban travel is likely to change with the advent of automated, shared and electric vehicles, personal mobility devices and automated package delivery systems.

The studio will examine current modal choices in different built and socio-economic environments around the Expo line and explore how the introduction of new mobility options is likely to disrupt spatial accessibility, existing trip patterns, as well as the functions of streets and public spaces. By focusing on half a dozen neighborhoods adjacent to the new Metro line, the studio will also explore how new mobility technologies could complement, rather than compete with walking and public transit and explore the impact of new mobility options in varying built environments and socio-economic settings.

Sites include the USC area, which will serve as the epicenter of LA’s 2028 Olympics, as well as transit catchment areas around Pico, Vermont, Crenshaw, La Cienega, Sepulveda and Palms. City of LA’s planning, urban design and transportation departments are collaborating with the studio as public sector hosts and the Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi Alliance and Ford are sponsoring the studio. The studio is open to participants with prior urban planning, urban design and urban mobility project experiences and involves a site visit in February 2019.

Projects