The Forgotten and the Future: Reclaiming Back Alleys for a Sustainable City

Jennifer Wolch, Josh Newell, Mona Seymour, Hilary Bradbury Huang, Kim Reynolds and Jennifer Mapes
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Jennifer Wolch: College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley, 230 Wurster Hall #1820, Berkeley, CA 94720-1820, USA
Josh Newell: School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1041, USA
Mona Seymour: Urban Studies Program, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659, USA
Hilary Bradbury Huang: USC Center for Sustainable Cities, 3518 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0048, USA
Kim Reynolds: School of Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University, 150 East 10th Street, Claremont, CA 91711, USA
Jennifer Mapes: Department of Geography, University of Southern California, 3620 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0255, USA

Environment and Planning A, 2010, vol. 42, issue 12, 2874-2896

Abstract: Alleys are enigmatic, neglected features of the urban fabric. In this paper we explore the distribution, physical features, activity patterns, and resident perceptions of alleys in one major US city, Los Angeles, California. We do so through an integrated mixed-methods strategy involving participatory research with community-based organizations, spatial analysis, physical audits and behavioral observation of alleys, and focus groups. Results show that most alleys in Los Angeles are underutilized and walkable, quiet, and clean, although they can be, and are often perceived as, dirty and unsafe. Alley density is greatest in park-poor, low-income Latino and African-American neighborhoods. Alleys represent unrealized community assets that could be transformed by urban planners and managers into ‘green infrastructure’ to simultaneously offer multiple ecological, economic, and social benefits—including urban walkability and mobility, play space and green cover, biodiversity conservation, and urban runoff infiltration—and thereby to contribute to a more sustainable urbanism.

Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:12:p:2874-2896

DOI: 10.1068/a42259

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