What are the goals of the Urban Design Studio?
As I told The Planning Report last month (http://www.planningreport.com/tpr/), the Urban Design Studio’s focus is to make real changes in the design, functionality, and variety of our streets, to make them a valued public realm for multiple users. The Urban Design Studio in large part is about making L.A. more walkable and working with the diverse populations in the urban core. Improving walkability has become a major commitment of the department. I am also leading an interdisciplinary city team to redefine our downtown streets with an emphasis on people over cars. Pat L. Smith, ASLA, the consultant landscape architect, has prepared an extraordinary set of urban design guidelines and context-sensitive street designs that our team is moving forward to adoption by the Council. As a landscape architect, how do you see and approach urban design and planning? Landscape architecture background allows me to blend physical and cultural emphases, taking in city history and the special character
