Equity and Social Justice
Research + Design

For the first time, Berkeley teams came out on top in the 2025 Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition. The theme for this year’s competition, which received entries from schools across the country, was “designing for disasters.”

Designer, educator, researcher, and alum David Brown (MArch 1990) led this year’s competition, with the theme Lot, Garden, and Void. Student teams of five to six students had 58 hours to create their designs before presenting to a panel of jurors. Brown, professor of architecture and director of the College of Architecture at the University of Illinois – Chicago, is best known for The Available City, his ongoing initiative to document, explore, and reimagine vacant lots in Chicago as landscapes of collective action.

CED announces Just Climate Futures grants to support projects that investigate carbon-neutral timber construction, new methods of wildfire risk mitigation, converting commercial buildings into affordable housing, and the environmental impacts of AI.

Three alums will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award at CED’s 2025 Commencement ceremony on May 20 at the Greek Theatre. This year’s awardees are John Cary (MArch 2003), Lee Ehmke (MLA 1988), Sujata Srivastava (MCP 2000). The award honors alums who have exhibited outstanding public service, in its broadest sense, throughout their career.

The Terner Center is tracking more than 220 housing-related bills as legislators attempt to tackle California’s housing affordability crisis.

New research from Assistant Professor of City & Regional Planning Max Buchholz published in PNAS suggests that large cities, with their high cost of living and large populations, may create strong barriers to Black and Latinx workers accessing good jobs with high levels of upward mobility, as compared to white workers. This research is part of Buchholz’s ongoing investigations into the causes of urban inequality.

Associate Professor of City & Regional Planning Marta Gonzalez received the prestigious Lagrange Prize–Fondazione CRT for her pioneering use of network science to make cities more livable, sustainable, and equitable.

Maryam Hosseini, who uses AI, computer vision, and machine learning to advance urban accessibility and walkability, joins the Department of City & Regional Planning this semester as assistant professor.

Danielle Rivera, assistant professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning, was one of the Berkeley researchers interviewed about the causes and fallout of the LA fires. The fires destroyed homes in diverse communities, but the media focus on wealthy neighborhoods could impact post-fire recovery.

This explainer from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, a CED affiliate center, presents data on homelessness in California, as well as how the state has made significant investments in permanent supportive housing. It highlights research-backed strategies that California and other states can pursue to overcome key obstacles and make real progress on addressing chronic homelessness — helping individuals, families, and communities thrive.

Fordham University Press, 2024 Breaking the Bronze Ceiling: Women, Memory, and Public Space uncovers a glaring omission in our global memorial landscape: the conspicuous absence of women. Exploring this neglected narrative, the book emerges as the foremost guide to women’s memorialization across diverse cultures and ages. As global memorials come under intense examination, with metropolises vying for a more inclusive recognition of female contributions, this book stands at the forefront of contemporary discussion. Contributor(s): Carolina Aguilera, Manuela Badilla Rajevic, Daniel E. Coslett, Erika Doss, Tania Gutiérrez-Monroy, Daniel Herwitz, Katherine Hite, Lauren Kroiz, Ana Maria León, Fernando Luis Martínez Nespral, Pia Montealegre, Sierra Rooney, Valentina Rozas-Krause, Daniela Sandler, Kirk Savage, Andrew M. Shanken, Susan Slyomovics, Marita Sturken, Amanda Su, Dell Upton, Nathaniel Robert Walker and Mechtild Widrich

The College of Environmental Design announces $10.8 million gift from alum Jon Stryker to extend social justice fellowships.

Research projects involving faculty from the Departments of City & Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning received seed grants from a new program sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Ben Metcalf, managing director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, reports his findings from a research trip to Rome as a recipient of CED’s Affiliated Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. The fellowship is made possible by Professor Emeritus of Architecture Daniel Solomon and Robert Davis, founder of Seaside, Florida.

CED teams won first and second place at the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) Student Design Competition.

Walter Hood explain how he tells community stories through landscape design.

The College of Environmental Design’s fall 2024 lecture series brings together speakers from across disciplines to address the intersection of social justice and the built environment.

The class, the first of its kind at Berkeley, addressed urban gun violence as a public health issue.

Maria Paz Gutierrez, associate professor of architecture, receives National Science Foundation grant for household greywater reuse project. Gutierrez is working with professor of architecture, Luisa Caldas, and UC Merced.