cityLAB leverages design, research, policy, and education to create more just urban futures with real impacts for communities in Los Angeles and beyond.

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Founded in 2006, cityLAB is a multidisciplinary research center within UCLA’s Architecture and Urban Design Department. Through rigorous analysis, radical methodologies, education, and practical implementation the lab actively explores urban dynamics in the postsuburban metropolis, rethinking sustainable approaches to spatial, political, and social infrastructures to promote equitable and sustainable cities.

Although based in Los Angeles, cityLAB’s impact extends well beyond the region. The lab has garnered significant national and international recognition and focuses on building creative partnerships with educational and community organizations in the US and around the world. Our team of architects, designers, planners, and humanists further disseminates new ways of approaching urban studies.

To stay updated on cityLAB’s events and news, you can join the mailing list by clicking here.

To stay updated on cityLAB’s events and news, you can join the mailing list by clicking here.

Forthcoming RFQ SLBI

cityLAB's Small Lots, Big Impacts initiative, organized alongside the L.A. Mayor's Office and the L.A. Housing Department, continues to gather steam! Our council motion is slated to go in front of the L.A. City Council in September ahead of an October RFQ release date. Over the past few months, the cityLAB team has organized a series of informational sessions to help interested Development Teams prepare for the forthcoming RFQ release. More information can be found on the Small Lots, Big Impacts website- please keep checking back to stay abreast of the latest news.

Eaton Fire Senior Summit

As part of cityLAB’s ongoing post-fire recovery initiative in Altadena, we presented the exhibition We Were Here: Honoring the Living Legacy of Black Altadena and Pasadena at the second Eaton Fire Rebuild Senior Summit on August 2, 2025. Developed in collaboration with Community Women Vital Voices, the exhibition weaves together over a century of Black history, creativity, and civic leadership through archival research, oral histories, and cherished family stories. Anchored by a Legacy Wall and a participatory mapping table, the installation invited residents to contribute their own stories to a growing map of resilience, grief, and care.

Pre-Fab Showcases

Prefabricated (prefab) homes offer numerous benefits, including cost savings, faster construction, reduced waste and enhanced quality control. We were honored to share this knowledge and more with Lena Kennedy from Community Vital Women Voices and Altadena residents this Spring during our cityLAB Pre-Fab Showcases. Led by our Associate Director of Architecture, Ryan Conroy and cityLAB director Dana Cuff, the participants voted on which models and designs they’d most like to hear more about as they considered their rebuilding options in the near future. This session was followed by two more workshops at the Altadena Public Library.

BeWell Parklet-Accessibility Workshop

On May 28, 2025, students, staff, and accessibility advocates gathered for the BEWell Parklet Accessibility Audit Workshop—a community-centered event focused on inclusive design and collective visioning. Held on-site at the sidewalk in front of 100 Westwood Plaza, participants assessed how the space supports safety, comfort, dignity, and independence for all users. Guided by the theme Access in Action: Building an Inclusive Campus Together, the workshop included maps, renderings, full-scale mockups, and tactile models.

Promoting a healthier and happier campus

Promoting a healthier and happier campus

UHI - Welcomes a new cohort!

This year's Urban Humanities Graduate Certificate program focuses on the theme of "Care as critical spatial practice." We kick things off this September with a one-week Summer Institute instensive course, presented in partnership with the Los Angeles Public Library. Our interdisciplinary cohort of 20 students will spend the week at the Central Branch exploring urban humanities theories, fieldwork practices, and representational strategies through a thick mapping project that investigates the structures, spaces, and stories of care that extend from the library into the city.

Urban Humanities Initiative

Urban Humanities Initiative

Housing California Educators
April 2025

Continuing the great work cityLAB has been conducting alongisde our partners at the UC Berkeley’s Center for Cities + Schools and the California School Boards Association, in April we published a report distilling lessons from built Education Workforce Housing (EWH) projects across the state. The report offers best practices for other districts and should act as an important resource for districts interested in building housing for their employees. At the same time, cityLAB has been actively involved in further EWH work: the drafting of a second, more design-focused best practices report, and the sheparding of AB1021, a bill that would further streamline districts’ ability to develop housing on their land. All of this work builds on our incredible foundation of EWH research which you can read more about here (link to our project page).