The Hyphae Design Laboratory collaborated with Accelerate Resistance LA (ARLA) to study pavement use and environmental risks in Los Angeles County. Across Los Angeles County, pavement burden, extreme heat, flooding risk, and limited tree canopy afflict a diverse range of places, creating a broad spectrum of depaving needs. By using indicators (ECOSTRESS surface temperature, UCI Flood Lab PRIMo high-confidence flood extents, land-cover-derived pavement share, and canopy coverage) and filtering results by where people live, this analysis moves beyond countywide generalities to pinpoint neighborhoods, schools, and street segments where interventions will matter most.
If Los Angeles wants to reduce heat, manage water, expand tree canopy, and support public health and equity goals, it needs an actionable strategy for transforming pavement. To support greater implementation of depaving strategies, we developed a novel dataset that characterizes pavement across parcels, right-of-way, and neighborhoods. The analyses are compiled into a report that provides the foundation for depaving implementation through a novel quantitative geospatial dataset to understand the County's existing pavement distribution. The data shows that LA County has 312,435 acres of pavement, or 488 square miles. This is an area so vast that it would form California's largest city if consolidated. An estimated 137,438 acres (44%) of the existing pavement is what we call non-core pavement, meaning it is not thought to be required for roadways, sidewalks, or parking.
The report also highlights twenty-two practical design and depaving strategies, from planted bulbouts to parking lot reconfigurations that local agencies and partners can use to remove unnecessary asphalt and regenerate urban land. Together, the dataset and depaving strategies offer a scalable approach to advance climate, health, and equity goals: one sidewalk, schoolyard, parking log, and neighborhood block at a time.
The full report, as well as an interactive data viewer, is accessible on the DepaveLA website.
The Hyphae Design Laboratory collaborated with Accelerate Resistance LA (ARLA) to study pavement use and environmental risks in Los Angeles County. Across Los Angeles County, pavement burden, extreme heat, flooding risk, and limited tree canopy afflict a diverse range of places, creating a broad spectrum of depaving needs. By using indicators (ECOSTRESS surface temperature, UCI Flood Lab PRIMo high-confidence flood extents, land-cover-derived pavement share, and canopy coverage) and filtering results by where people live, this analysis moves beyond countywide generalities to pinpoint neighborhoods, schools, and street segments where interventions will matter most.
If Los Angeles wants to reduce heat, manage water, expand tree canopy, and support public health and equity goals, it needs an actionable strategy for transforming pavement. To support greater implementation of depaving strategies, we developed a novel dataset that characterizes pavement across parcels, right-of-way, and neighborhoods. The analyses are compiled into a report that provides the foundation for depaving implementation through a novel quantitative geospatial dataset to understand the County's existing pavement distribution. The data shows that LA County has 312,435 acres of pavement, or 488 square miles. This is an area so vast that it would form California's largest city if consolidated. An estimated 137,438 acres (44%) of the existing pavement is what we call non-core pavement, meaning it is not thought to be required for roadways, sidewalks, or parking.
The report also highlights twenty-two practical design and depaving strategies, from planted bulbouts to parking lot reconfigurations that local agencies and partners can use to remove unnecessary asphalt and regenerate urban land. Together, the dataset and depaving strategies offer a scalable approach to advance climate, health, and equity goals: one sidewalk, schoolyard, parking log, and neighborhood block at a time.
The full report, as well as an interactive data viewer, is accessible on the DepaveLA website.
The Hyphae Design Laboratory collaborated with Accelerate Resistance LA (ARLA) to study pavement use and environmental risks in Los Angeles County. Across Los Angeles County, pavement burden, extreme heat, flooding risk, and limited tree canopy afflict a diverse range of places, creating a broad spectrum of depaving needs. By using indicators (ECOSTRESS surface temperature, UCI Flood Lab PRIMo high-confidence flood extents, land-cover-derived pavement share, and canopy coverage) and filtering results by where people live, this analysis moves beyond countywide generalities to pinpoint neighborhoods, schools, and street segments where interventions will matter most.
If Los Angeles wants to reduce heat, manage water, expand tree canopy, and support public health and equity goals, it needs an actionable strategy for transforming pavement. To support greater implementation of depaving strategies, we developed a novel dataset that characterizes pavement across parcels, right-of-way, and neighborhoods. The analyses are compiled into a report that provides the foundation for depaving implementation through a novel quantitative geospatial dataset to understand the County's existing pavement distribution. The data shows that LA County has 312,435 acres of pavement, or 488 square miles. This is an area so vast that it would form California's largest city if consolidated. An estimated 137,438 acres (44%) of the existing pavement is what we call non-core pavement, meaning it is not thought to be required for roadways, sidewalks, or parking.
The report also highlights twenty-two practical design and depaving strategies, from planted bulbouts to parking lot reconfigurations that local agencies and partners can use to remove unnecessary asphalt and regenerate urban land. Together, the dataset and depaving strategies offer a scalable approach to advance climate, health, and equity goals: one sidewalk, schoolyard, parking log, and neighborhood block at a time.
The full report, as well as an interactive data viewer, is accessible on the DepaveLA website.
