Landscape Reparations: Reviving Economy and Urban Ecology in South Central Los Angeles
Through the design of an eco-industrial park on a former brownfield, the project seeks to create a green innovation hub to support economic self-reliance, to heal an impaired watershed, and to inspire community well-being through a restorative commons within a thriving urban local ecology.

As our profession reflects on our role in repairing the multiple impacts of racism in the post-industrial landscape, how do we design spaces for economic and ecological well-being? Through the design of a 13-acre eco industrial park along the Compton Creek, this project takes a restorative practices approach of reflecting community voices and repairing the urban ecology.

The former brown site and Cal Trans maintenance yard is uniquely centered to heal the local watershed, reduce downstream impacts to the Compton Creek, and provide ecological services. A closed loop, holistic watershed plan intertwines stormwater capture, phytoremediation, and treated water reuse to create vibrant green community spaces within a hub for economic self-reliance.