Anthea Rosenbaum

Anthea is a Master of Urban and Regional Planning candidate with a focus on design and development. A Santa Monica native, Anthea graduated from Barnard College with a degree in urban studies, concentrating in political science and history. She is currently interning at the city of West Hollywood’s Long Range Planning office, where she is gaining hands-on experience in shaping sustainable, community-driven urban policies. Anthea is passionate about promoting more inclusive, accessible, and just cities by exploring the intersection of land use and community development.

Project Overview

In this project, I will research the current public space usage trends, preferences, and desires of older adults in the Historic Filipinotown and Westlake neighborhoods of Los Angeles. This report will aim to provide Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) with design and programmatic interventions to inform their creation of intergenerational public spaces. My research will help KDI increase access and comfort among older adults in Historic Filipinotown and Westlake by answering three questions: 1. How do older adults in these neighborhoods currently utilize public space and what do they do to be active? 2. What are the needs and desires of older adults when it comes to being outdoors? 3. How can the communities’ preferences be translated into design and programmatic interventions?

Why is this topic, specifically, important to you?

Older adults are at higher risk for social isolation and loneliness. By creating public spaces without an intergenerational framework, cities exacerbate these risks by cutting off opportunities for physical activity, social interaction, and community connection. Despite the increasing population of older adults in the United States, this age group uses parks at disproportionately low rates. This is unsurprising, as urban planning professionals have often disregarded the needs and desires of older adults. As I spend time with the many older adults in my life, I have seen the many ways in which cities have not thought about nor planned for their needs. Public spaces––such as sidewalks, parks, and plazas––should be inclusive. Access to these spaces is vital for community strength, resilience, and identity. Having personally experienced the impacts of exclusionary environments, I am determined to utilize my education and career to identify and dismantle the barriers that prevent communities across the United States from accessing these spaces.

Who are the partners involved in this project and how will you be working with them?

KDI, my project client, is helping me connect with local organizations and community members who will provide feedback.

How do you hope that this project will impact the field moving forward?

In the past two decades or so, researchers have concerned themselves with understanding the preferences of older adults and physical park features that can encourage/discourage park usage by older adults. While this research has been instrumental in helping design spaces specifically for this population, it is vital to understand the preferences and behaviors of older adults outside of these spaces. By better understanding how older adults incorporate physical activity and socialization into their daily routines, we can better translate these existing patterns into public space, and remove barriers that prevent older adults from socializing or exercising in public.