(2023 report)
Author: Jon Christensen with research contributions from Yassaman Sarvian and Britta McOmber
With support from the Resources Legacy Fund, we evaluated the Link initiative and its uniquely collaborative, community-driven model for park development in underserved communities. The research reveals a successful model — including collaborations between under-resourced municipal agencies, community-based organizations, and technical assistance providers — to build and renovate multi-benefit parks. For additional findings, see our more detailed report by Yassaman Sarvian.
(2022 report)
Author: Ariana Hernandez
This study evaluates the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program, a national grant program that bolsters outdoor recreation in urban areas – particularly economically disadvantaged and park-poor areas. This program is in a position to be an increasingly important source of federal funding for underserved communities — but it may not be realizing its full potential. This study examines whether the program is achieving its goals and identifies barriers that prevent urban areas from better utilizing ORLP funding. A collaboration with the Wilderness Society (TWS), this project aims to further TWS’s park equity advocacy efforts by identifying ways to ensure more equitable access to outdoor recreation across the country.
Expanding Equitable Access to the Outdoors in California
(2020 report, forthcoming)
Core research team: Jon Christensen, Kyra Gmoser-Daskalakis, and Morgan Rogers
California has a wealth of public lands, natural and cultural resources, and open space but unfortunately access to these spaces has not been equitable for all Californians. Governor Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency have identified “Access for All” as a priority that the state must work to advance.
Funded by the Resources Legacy Fund, researchers at the Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) recently completed an inventory of current state funded and operated programs, along with exemplary local and national programs, that advance equitable outdoor access in the state along the multiple dimensions of capital investment, workforce development, and programming. This inventory helped to summarize the current landscape of programs and identify gaps and opportunities to improve outdoor access in the state. Analysis of findings from the inventory, in conjunction with interviews of stakeholders across the state, allowed LCI researchers to draft policy recommendations for improving equitable access programming in the state with an eye toward near term opportunities to leverage existing programs and funding for high impact with minimal budget impacts. LCI’s work will help inform policy makers and advocates on ways to move forward amid myriad challenges to ensure all Californians can benefit from the public health, recreational, and educational benefits that access to the outdoors provides.
(2020 briefing paper and technical report)
Core research team: J.R. DeShazo, Gregory Pierce, Britta McOmber, Kyra Gmoser-Daskalakis, Kelsey Jessup, and Joyce Thung
The Los Angeles region is home to the nation’s largest urban national park, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The park offers more than 500 miles of trails for picnicking, hiking, biking, wildlife viewing in a biodiversity hotspot, and much more.
UCLA researchers and volunteers worked with the National Park Service to survey over 4,000 people at 45 trailheads and park entrances spread throughout the vast Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). A new report and briefing paper released by LCI features results of this survey. The publications examine the patterns and needs of a diverse array of SMMNRA park users to inform how to meet their needs, with broader implications to inform park planning elsewhere.
The analysis has a focus on park equity and access in Los Angeles County. Researchers analyzed equity and access along five key dimensions: visitor demographics and geographic characteristics of visitors; travel distance, time, and cost; modes of park access; activity engagement; and amenities used or desired.
(2018 toolkit; next phase of implementation ongoing)
Authors: Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Kelsey Jessup, Kyra Gmoser-Daskalakis, Connor Hum, Rebecca Ferdman, and Mara Elana Burstein
LCI’s SMART Parks Toolkit is a cutting-edge, award-winning (American Planning Association-Los Angeles award) guide to integrating technology into parks. Supported by The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the toolkit describes technology types, their opportunities to enhancebenefits of public spaces, and considerations for park managers. The toolkit provides specific examples of how technology has been or could be applied in park settings. The document is organized by park components, representing the main features and management considerations for most urban parks: landscape, irrigation, stormwater, hardscape, activity spaces, urban furniture and amenities, lighting, and digiscapes.
(2016 guidebook)
Authors: J.R. DeShazo, Colleen Callahan, Kelsey Jessup, Mara Elana Burstein, Andrew Pasillas, Jimmy Tran, and Cameron Robertson
For an example of what communities can do with land that adjoins the Los Angeles River, look no further than Marsh Park — 3.9 acres of greenway in the Elysian Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles, not far from downtown. The park features trees, green infrastructure, play and fitness equipment, a walking path, picnic tables and an open-air pavilion. It is built around a large industrial building that houses a company that takes modular shipping containers and turns them into residences for the homeless. The park also serves as a gateway to the L.A. River and is one of the case studies featured in the Los Angeles River Greenway Guide.
The guide describes the experience of community residents and other leaders who have successfully developed portions of the L.A. River greenway, and provides advice to those interested in promoting a continuous greenway in their community. It features 14 case studies of small and large projects that have improved community access to the L.A. River and/or created parks, pathways, or bridges along it. The guide also includes considerations for how to:
- develop clear project goals, strategic partnerships, and reasonable timelines; engage and empower community members;
- develop creative project designs;
- determine accurate project costs;
- consider funding options;
- effectively coordinate with numerous permitting agencies and private land owners;
- and sustain long-term project operations and maintenance.
UCLA researchers developed the guide based on a collaborative process that involved dozens of interviews and several community events.
