On October 7, the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Institute of Architects held a symposium to discuss opportunities to design communities that promote greater physical activity and equitable access to healthier lifestyles. The event brought together a architects, planners, landscape architects, policy makers, urban designers, public health professionals, and students. The major theme of the symposium is the need for greater cross-collaboration between architects and planners, and public health professionals to address the problem of obesity.
Highlights of the event, by sub-topic, included:
• Public Health: Dr. Paul Simon with the L.A. County Department of Public Health provided important background on the historic connection between city planning and public health, with statistics on childhood obesity and healthcare spending that demonstrate the severity and urgency of the problem. Dr. Simon also highlighted various ongoing efforts by the Public Health Department to create healthy communities, including the Policies for Livable, Active Communities and Environments (PLACE) and Renew Environments for Nutrition, Exercise, and Wellness (RENEW) programs.
• Planning: Los Angeles City Planning Director Michael LoGrande discussed the city's efforts in healthy design and planning such as: plans to incorporate a health chapter into the General Plan Framework, along with implementing ordinances; development of a health-centric transit-oriented development template in South L.A. along Metro Blue Line stations; and update of the Mobility Element of the General Plan to give Angelenos a full range of options including biking, walking, and public transit.
• "Living Streets": Consultant Ryan Snyder presented the idea that a living street is one in which the needs of automobile drivers are secondary to the needs of users of the street as a whole; it is a space designed to be shared by pedestrians, playing children, bicyclists, and low-speed motor vehicles. Snyder's presentation focused on the Model Street Design Manual that was created through a writing charrette involving national experts. This manual focuses on all users and modes, seeking to achieve balanced street design that accommodates automobiles while ensuring that cyclists, pedestrians, and transit users can travel comfortably and safely.
• Community Engagement: Lark Galloway-Gilliam with Community Health Councils contended that the community needs to be engaged in any process to design and redesign communities. She pointed out how past planning efforts lacked vision on the part of leadership and reflected disconnect between different public agencies responsible for planning, transportation, housing, and redevelopment. Gilliam also stressed the need to speed up in coming up with strategies to help the residents of underserved communities.
• Recreational Space: Carolyn Ramsey discussed the Trust for Public Land's successful efforts in improving and increasing usage of existing parks through "fitness zones." Fitness Zones are easy-to-use outdoor gyms designed to promote general health and introduce a new set of healthy activities to the park experience. Installed in existing parks, the equipment is designed to be durable, vandal resistant, and appropriate for teenagers and adults of all fitness levels. To date, 29 Fitness Zones have been installed throughout L.A. County and more are planned in the near future.
An idea that was briefly mentioned during the symposium, but not fully discussed was the temporary closure of some streets for recreational activities. Inspired by Bogotá's Ciclovía, Los Angeles has held three CicLAvia events (most recently on October 9), which opened up some city streets to pedestrians and bicyclists, creating a temporary network of public space where participants could walk, bike, socialize, and learn more about their city. Closing streets temporarily recognizes the urgency of addressing the recreational needs of residents. Los Angeles could learn from New York City's Playstreets Program created by the city's Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene, Transportation, and Parks to battle childhood obesity. This program is a quick and low-cost way to create active play space, and is a health measure that directly targets children, the city's most important at–risk population.
Other ideas also deserve consideration. For example, given the success of mobile libraries, and the lack of land and money to develop permanent recreational facilities, mobile park spaces may also be employed as a way to bring in outside resources to a community in need. Mobile gyms provide additional opportunities for residents to work out and are flexible in that they can be parked at any location where vehicles are allowed. Also, the conversion of existing buildings for recreational use is growing in popularity and has been carried out by both commercial interests and public agencies. Warehouses, for example, have been converted to sports facilities for indoor soccer, badminton, handball, and batting cages.
The symposium was successful in many ways. Hopefully, it would lead to the rise of more political and professional champions in the architecture and planning realms, and the development of timely, effective solutions to promote greater physical activity in our communities and address the obesity crisis.
Clement Lau is a freelance writer and a planner with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation.
