Creating a Healthier Los Angeles: Improving Transportation and Reclaiming Green Spaces
The two left bottom photos were sourced from Wikimedia Commons*
"Exposure to residential surrounding green space was associated with better cognitive performances at 9-12 years of age, taking into account traffic-related air pollution exposure."
- Environmental Health, March 30, 2023. Volume 22**
It is widely understood that air pollution from motor vehicles contributes to climate change and harms human health; however, it is less known that increased exposure to green spaces can not only reduce these adverse effects but also improve cognitive function. Join us Wednesday, February 11 from 12–1:30 PM in Ahmanson Auditorium as we address these pressing issues during a panel conceived and facilitated by student staff members from the Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainability.
Speakers will address the ways car culture and insufficient green spaces have negatively impacted environmental resilience and public health in Los Angeles. They will also explore the positive impacts of green infrastructure and outdoor spaces, highlighting the revitalization of the LA river; public transportation and affordable housing; and the role business can play in transforming Los Angeles into our shared vision for the city of tomorrow.
The panel will feature the following speakers and student facilitators:
- Eric Strauss: Executive Director of CURes & President's Professor of Biology
- John Petrie: Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Eli Lipmen: Executive Director, Move LA
- Junghoon Park: Assistant Professor of Strategic Management
- Isabella Zadoyan '26: MSE Environmental Engineering, Student Facilitator
- Keyon Raissinia ‘28: B.B.A. Finance, Management & Leadership, Student Facilitator
This panel is part of the CSJ Center for Reconciliation and Justice's four-day annual symposium, "Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: Modeling the City of Tomorrow."
Photo and Quotation Citations
*A Syn, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Channelized_river_in_Los_Angeles_-b.jpg
*Downtowngal, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_H_Kim_School2.jpg
**Saenen, Nelly D et al. "Residential green space improves cognitive performances in primary schoolchildren independent of traffic - related air pollution exposure." https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36998070/
