The PUBLIC SPACE RESEARCH GROUP welcomes, the UCLA Department of Urban Planning Public Space group featuring Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris with Chris Giamarino, Claire Nelischer, Andres Ramirez, and Gus Wendel presenting, Fostering Intergenerational Public Spaces in Disinvested Neighborhoods.

We discuss the potential for intergenerational public spaces in one disinvested Los Angeles neighborhood. Through observations, focus groups, interviews, thick mapping, and participatory design exercises, we worked with neighborhood youth and older adults to understand where their interests intersect or diverge. We yielded insights for more inclusive public spaces and collaboration opportunities between typically marginalized groups.

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris is a Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and the Associate Dean of the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA. She is the author of 13 books and over 100 articles on topics related to public spaces, mobility and safety, women’s travel, homelessness, inner-city revitalization, gentrification and displacement. She has served as a consultant to the Southern California Association of Governments, LA Metro, LA DOT, California Air Resources Board, American, Fehr and Peers, STV Incorporated, Kounkuey Design Initiative, Project for Public Spaces, Los Angeles Neighborhood Initiative, and a number of municipal governments. Her most recent books include Just Urban Design: The Struggle for A Public City (MIT Press: 2022) and Pandemic in the Metropolis: Transportation Impacts and Recovery (Routledge: 2022).

Chris Giamarino is a PhD candidate in Urban Planning at UCLA. His dissertation research explores the transformative potential of do-it-yourself urban design to resist policing and realize public space justice by encampment communities in Los Angeles.

Claire Nelischer is a doctoral student in Urban Planning at UCLA. She is interested in public space governance, civic participation, and urban design. Her research centers on spatial justice in the production and management of urban parks and public spaces, and the role of planners, designers, and communities in shaping shared public environments and outcomes.

Andrés F. Ramirez is a PhD student in Urban Planning at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. His research interests include public space, insurgent planning and the role of media in shaping the built environment. Prior to UCLA, Andrés worked as a writer, curator and producer in architecture and urban planning.

Gus Wendel is a Ph.D student in Urban Planning at UCLA. His research is concerned with how processes of neighborhood change intersect with public space access and use. Gus is also the Assistant Director of cityLAB – UCLA, managing its Mellon Foundation grant, overseeing projects on housing insecurity and long-distance commuting, and co-producing its Digital Salon podcast.

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