Collage: A Creative Call to Arms for City Transformation: Los Angeles River Edition

The Los Angeles River is a highly significant waterway that flows approximately 51-miles through the second largest urban region in the United States, into two of the world’s busiest ports, and outlets into the world’s largest body of water: the Pacific Ocean (LARRMP 2007). After a series of devastating floods in the early 1900s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers channelized the River in concrete for flood-control measures, drastically altering the ecological function and aesthetic appearance of the River (LARRMP 2007). Efforts to re-envision and ‘revitalize’ the Los Angeles River into something other than a drainage ditch have ensued since the 1970s, and included the creation of both a county-wide and city-wide Master Plan (in 1996 and 2007 respectively), which have determined an overall ‘vision’ for the future of the River and provided a comprehensive set of specific recommendations for how to achieve it (LARRMP 2007). Regardless of such increased attention and intention, the Los Angeles River remains in relatively the same state it did 80 years ago, begging the questions ‘what is inhibiting such a city transformation from occurring?’ and ‘what can be done to more effectively transform parts of cities, like the Los Angeles River?’ Through a combination of personal observation and analysis conducted in Los Angeles, as well as case study and published literature research, this thesis investigates and identifies issues associated with large-scale urban transformation initiatives (using the Los Angeles River revitalization as a context), and provides a possible framework for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of such efforts by facilitating a more inclusive, innovative, and cohesive approach to addressing urban transformation initiatives.