CityLAB awarded grant to evaluate housing in California’s future
New statewide initiative focuses on making next century more innovative, sustainable and equitable
A research center housed in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, cityLAB UCLA, has received a research award from California 100, a new statewide initiative aimed at envisioning and shaping the long-term success of California.
CityLAB is among four research centers at UCLA — spanning public health to urban planning to transportation — that have been named recipients of financial awards from California 100.
CityLAB will summarize California’s housing market and outline a vision for how policy changes could lead to a brighter future for the state’s residents, with a particular focus on increased equity and housing production. Working alongside the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, this project will also include a visualization of this future through creative techniques of diagramming, drawing, and rendering to create images that represent this vision and help readers picture the possibilities for California’s communities.
“The housing crisis is one of California’s most pressing issues today, and this is one where architecture and urban design are critical to future solutions,” said Dana Cuff, director of cityLAB and a professor in the Department of Architecture and Urban Design.
The other UCLA-associated projects involve the Institute of Transportation Studies and UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The Institute for Transportation Studies will delve into transportation policy contradictions: California has invested substantially in public transit, while other public policies encourage driving and work against transit. As the state looks to meet its climate and equity goals, transportation systems — and the land use context surrounding them — will play a key role.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research will use its award, along with technical assistance from the Institute for the Future, to evaluate current facts, origins and future trends health and wellness will play in California’s next century. The center’s research will be led by Ninez Ponce, director of the center and professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and will begin this summer.
In total, researchers from four UCLA organizations will spearhead three of the 13 California 100 research areas. The projects will lead to a set of policy options for the future of California. The policies will be developed in conjunction with research teams from the other California 100 issue areas.
The California 100 Commission is a multi-generational advisory body that will develop recommendations for the state’s future and test those recommendations across a broad set of policy areas by directly engaging Californians. Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of the California 100 Initiative, is tasked with assembling and engaging the Commission, and ensuring that the research stream intersects with the initiative’s other activities including advanced technology, policy innovation and stakeholder engagement.
“From climate change, to aging populations and rapid changes in industry, California will face enormous challenges in the years ahead,” Ramakrishnan noted. “We are fortunate to be able to draw on the deep talent of researchers in California to produce evidence and recommendations that will inform robust public engagement and set the state on a strong, long-term trajectory for success.”
About the California 100 research grants
California 100 is a new statewide initiative being incubated at the University of California and Stanford University focused on inspiring a vision and strategy for California’s next century that is innovative, sustainable, and equitable. The initiative will harness the talent of a diverse array of leaders through research, policy innovation, advanced technology, and stakeholder engagement. As part of its research stream of work, California 100 is sponsoring 13 research projects focused on the following issue areas:
- Advanced technology and basic research
- Arts, culture, and entertainment
- Education and workforce, from cradle to career and retirement
- Economic mobility and inequality
- Energy, environment and natural resources
- Federalism and foreign policy
- Fiscal reform
- Governance, media, and civil society
- Health and wellness
- Housing and community development
- Immigrant integration
- Public safety and criminal justice reform
- Transportation and urban planning
For more information, visit California100.org.
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