Equity and Social Justice
Research + Design

Destin Jenkins (Stanford University) reflects on the field of urban history, and the relationship between debt and postwar inequality.

Rivera's prize-winning article argues that engaging local histories of racism and prejudice in Texas's Río Grande Valley is key to redressing post-disaster inequities.

This new grant program supports cross-disciplinary projects led by CED faculty that aim to reduce the impacts of climate change. This year's funded projects forge innovations in climate resilience through explorations in building technologies and materials, housing security, water access, and community-based climate visualizations. These projects stood out from the field of applications for their impact on underserved communities and their capacity to have actionable environmental outcomes.

On September 25, Terner Labs hosts the inaugural symposium, The Search for Affordable Rental Housing, a deep dive into how technology is helping and hurting individuals who are seeking affordable rental housing.

Professor Emeritus of Architecture and City & Regional Planning Raymond (Ray) Lifchez has passed away at age 90. Lifchez made a deep and lasting impact on the College of Environmental Design (CED), UC Berkeley, and the world through his teaching, advocacy for accessible design, and philanthropy.

CED announces Sierra Bainbridge as the recipient of the 2023–2024 Berkeley Rupp Prize. Bainbridge, an award-winning landscape architect and a co-founder of MASS Design Group, has worked at the forefront of initiatives that explore the role of design in cultural and environmental healing.

Vanessa Giraldo, CED MArch student and Arcus Fellow, among five students selected for a 2023 SmithGroup Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) Scholarship.

The public park and garden surrounding the new International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, is a sacred space that pays homage to the profound history of the African diaspora.

A multiyear collaboration between the Department of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and Jackson State University in Mississippi is bringing students together to address flood mitigation and enhanced river access along Jackson’s Pearl River and California’s Sacramento River.

CED's interdisciplinary Boyce Housing Studio proposes strategies for newly identified housing element sites in Menlo Park and Piedmont.

CED professor Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, of Emerging Objects, receive the 2023 Jeff Harnar Social & Environmental Justice award for their project Casa Covid, which combines 3D printing with Indigenous building methods and materials.

After finding community at CED, the first cohort of Arcus Social Justice Corps graduates makes an impact.

Join us to learn from Danielle Rivera, assistant professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and director of the Just Environments Lab, who will talk about leading practices and research surrounding community engagement today.

Carolina Reid discusses the structural foundations of homelessness and various approaches to developing affordable and permanent supportive housing in California.

This graduate studio explored multifamily housing in the context of California’s housing crisis.

Alan Ricks, founding Principal and Chief Design Officer of the award-winning MASS Design Group will be the Spring 2023 Lifchez Visiting Professor of Practice in Social Justice. 

The exhibition Small Infrastructures examines how architectural practice can contribute to recent housing legislation and larger problems of urban housing in the U.S.

On September 30th, fifteen Abbey MRED+D students (almost half of the thirty-six student cohort) competed in Ivory Innovations’ Hack-A-House competition, with one team winning first place in their category.

This report explores the market dynamics pushing up rents across California and offers recommendations for policies that might strengthen accountability.

CED is proud to announce that the inaugural NASA Equity and Environmental Justice Grant has been awarded to Professor of Landscape Architecture Iryna Dronova, DCRP Professor Emerita Karen Chapple, and DCRP Assistant Professor Zoé Hamstead for their proposal, "Where the Grass Grows Greener: The Impacts of Urban Greening on Housing Prices and Neighborhood Stability."