School of Landscape Architecture & Planning News & Headlines

“Welcome to Meltsville,” reads the new sign for a fake metropolis featured this week in The Washington Post. The interactive article relies on the expert analysis of Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments at CAPLA, who provides insight on extreme heat's effects on infrastructure.

Kenneth J. Kokroko and Mackenzie Waller, assistant professors of landscape architecture who joined CAPLA last year, have been selected for the second cohort of the Dean’s Equity and Inclusion Initiative Fellowship Program. They will join 15 other early career faculty from leading design and built environment institutions across the country.

Buckled roads, warped train tracks and expanded bridges are a stark reminder of the need to adapt our infrastructure to a warming planet. Heat can impact all types of physical infrastructure, but roads, runways and railways may be among the most vulnerable, says CAPLA Assistant Professor Ladd Keith.

A 2017 study by Kelly Cederberg ’13 MLA, a CAPLA adjunct lecturer in landscape architecture, has been cited by Bloomberg in a story on how the Trust for Public Land is converting the San Geronimo Golf Course in Marin County, California, into a park and restored habitat for endangered wildlife.

Assistant Professor of Planning and Sustainable Built Environments Ladd Keith was interviewed by The Washington Post about the City of Tucson's Cool Pavement Program as well as the inequitable impacts of extreme heat on communities, the concepts behind "cool corridors" and more.

A 2021 study by Gary Pivo, "Equity and Sustainability Assessment of Tucson's Government Property Lease Excise Tax (GPLET) Program," was cited by Phoenix Business Journal and Planetizen on articles about gentrification and affordable housing in Tucson, particularly in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods.

When Arthur C. Nelson retired from the University of Arizona in May 2022, he considered his legacy—not just at the University of Arizona, but across his distinguished, 38-year career in higher education following 12 years in the planning profession.

As heat waves blaze across the United States, CAPLA's Ladd Keith, assistant professor of planning and sustainable built environments, says city planners should take the lead in managing and mitigating extreme heat. Read this Q&A to learn more.

Recent Master of Landscape Architecture student Irene Pineda has won first place in the graduate/professional student category of the UArizona 2022 Data Visualization Challenge for her map Plant Trees in Pomona for a Sustainable Future. Her map identifies where trees should be planted to provide more shading in the rapidly industrializing Southern California city.

Thanks to research by CAPLA's Heritage Conservation Project Director Helen Erickson and graduate students Sarah McDowell and Teresa DeKoker, the Buffalo Soldier military establishment Camp Naco in Southeastern Arizona has been listed by the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation's as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2022.

Assistant Professor of Architecture Courtney Crosson has been appointed director of the University of Arizona’s Drachman Institute by CAPLA Dean Nancy Pollock-Ellwand. Crosson's introduction was combined with a project showcase on April 13 in a "relaunch" of this important, community-focused institute.

Thanks to a partnership with the American Planning Association, CAPLA's Ladd Keith and ASU's Sara Meerow have published a comprehensive guide for planners and their communities to equitably prepare for urban heat resilience and mitigation: Planning for Urban Heat Resilience.