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Public Space Is Civic Infrastructure

Recap from Our December 4th Salon

Last month, we kicked off our four-part Public Space Salon series with 75 civic leaders across sectors, coming together for an evening of ideas, strategy, and shared purpose. A big thank you to Gensler, and especially to Midori Mizuhara and her colleagues, for generously hosting us and helping set the tone for a thoughtful and energizing conversation. These salons aren’t just conversations: They’re stepping stones toward a City that works.

 

The Table We’re Building: Civic Leadership for Sidewalks, Streets, and Parks

This series is designed to spark the civic power, outside investment, and strategic leadership needed to reshape how Los Angeles plans, funds, and stewards its public spaces. Each session builds toward a citywide summit in Fall 2026, championing governance rooted in long-term stewardship, where sidewalks, streets, and parks are treated as essential public assets.

 

Three takeaways:

 

  1. Building civic power together: Ya-Ting Liu, New York City’s first Chief Public Realm Officer, joined us in person, reminding us what’s possible when leadership is aligned and accountable. Her role was created because NYC civic leaders and advocates came together with a shared vision for public space (including people from business and real estate, and from the city’s large employers). Her experience offers inspiration, and important lessons, as Los Angeles charts its own path.
  1. Listening, learning, and leading: Salon guests brought urgency, clarity, and ideas—and we’re putting them to work. This isn’t performative input; it’s shaping real strategy. It’s how we’ve always operated: grounding our work in lived experience, from community workshops to the Public Space Leadership Council. Our July report, A City That Works, was drafted with the guidance of those on that council and refined in the Salon we held last May. Feedback from verbal and written comments is shaping the way we make this issue a priority for those with the power to do something about it.
  1. People making connections:The room was full of energy, with people from government, philanthropy, design, business, and community finding real points of connection. The conversations didn’t stop when the program ended—people stuck around, swapped contacts, and started building what comes next.

What’s next—and how you can help:

  • Charter Reform: We’re advancing a bold agenda to amend LA’s City Charter so public infrastructure has the leadership, coordination, and financial tools it needs.
  • Expanding the Tent: We’re bringing in new voices, especially those not traditionally part of infrastructure conversations but deeply impacted by the outcomes.
  • Making the Economic Case: Investing in public space pays off. It reduces liability costs, boosts local business, lowers healthcare expenses, builds climate resilience, and creates local jobs. This work is about how we deliver these results for Angelenos.

Backing the Work, Building the Future
This isn’t just our effort—it’s a collective push for a City that plans ahead, stewards public space with care, and delivers on its promises. Join us by:

  • Connecting us to others. Who should be at this table? Help us make sure they have a seat.
  • Lifting up civic leadership. Talk about this work in your circles, on social media, and with people with power.
  • Investing in impact. Donate funds to keep this work going. We have big plans for 2026, help us make them real.
  • Engaging in Charter Reform. Show up. Speak up. The future of our public infrastructure and how LA plans, spends, and delivers is on the table.

This is how we build civic power: together, with focus and resolve.

 

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Richard France assists clients with strategic planning, visioning, and community and economic development. He is a strategic planner at Estolano Advisors, where he has been involved in a variety of active transportation, transit-oriented development, climate change resiliency, and equitable economic development projects. His work in active transportation includes coordinating a study to improve bike and pedestrian access to transit oriented districts for the County of Los Angeles, and working with the Southern California Association of Governments to host tactical urbanism events throughout the region. Richard also serves as a technical assistance provider for a number of California Climate Investment programs, including the Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities, Transformative Climate Communities, and Low Carbon Transit Operations programs. He has also taught at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Richard received a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and his M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA.

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