cityLAB at UCLA launches "Small Lots, Big Impacts" with City of Los Angeles and LA4LA, seeking to turn vacant land into housing opportunity

cityLAB at UCLA has announced "Small Lots, Big Impacts," a first-of-its-kind initiative to turn vacant land lots across Los Angeles into new starter homes. The initiative calls on architects and building experts to propose creative pilot projects on vacant, City-owned land, seeking winning designs for faster, innovative, and lower-cost housing for the next generation of homeowners.

"Small Lots, Big Impacts" is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles, cityLAB at UCLA, and LA4LA. The two-phase initiative begins with an open competition, asking designers, architects, and students everywhere for creative housing proposals. To amend the Los Angeles residential imaginary for a postsuburban world, the initiative advances sustainable infill, shared amenities, and compact, resilient communities that show desirable alternatives to the detached house.

Winners of the design competition will have the opportunity to enter the second phase in summer 2025, and will be paired with development teams to begin construction. In this second phase, the City of Los Angeles will award land it owns to qualifying development teams that can convert the innovative architectural proposals into high-quality housing projects. The small developments will physically demonstrate replicable housing models for thousands of similar privately-held lots. 

"Angelenos should be able to buy their first home and raise their families in our city. We need to be embracing new and innovative construction methods and materials throughout the city," says City of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. "The launch of 'Small Lots, Big Impacts' is a step toward that future, and I call on the talented expert architects, designers and builders to come together and submit their bold design ideas for new first-time homes in LA."

"We need to see what’s possible for LA's near-future," said Dana Cuff, Professor at UCLA AUD and Director of cityLAB at UCLA. "By bringing together the best architects, developers and builders, we can invent a new
generation of ‘SoCal starter homes,’ that are more compact, sharing land that was once occupied by a single house, giving dignity and joy to their residents while respecting Mother Nature."

As cityLAB at UCLA notes in the competition brief, the January 2025 wildfires in the LA region have highlighted the importance of combining public resources with creative ingenuity to address LA's housing crisis. Thus, in "Small Lots, Big Impacts" the City of Los Angeles is leading the way, hosting demonstration projects on its own land that will offer new visions for building housing that can translate to thousands of similar, privately-held lots. Though often seen as too small for more traditional housing development, these public lots can be key pieces in building a more equitable and affordable future for Los Angeles.

"Small Lots, Big Impacts" initiative is the outcome of a collaboration between the City of Los Angeles, including the Office of Mayor Karen Bass, the Housing Department, and City Council; LA4LA; and cityLAB-UCLA. Questions may be addressed by the competition website or directed to smalllotsinfo@ucla.edu.

About cityLAB at UCLA: cityLAB, founded in 2006, is a multidisciplinary center in UCLA's Department of Architecture and Urban Design focused on addressing spatial justice concerns. cityLAB leverages design, research, policy, and education to create more just urban futures with real impacts for communities in Los Angeles and beyond. Specifically, the lab explores the challenges facing the 21st century metropolis, expanding the possibilities for our cities to grow more equitably, livably, sustainably, and beautifully, with affordable housing at the center of its efforts.

About LA4LA: LA4LA bridges the flexibility of philanthropy and private investment, with the scale of government, to expedite homelessness solutions and affordable housing in Los Angeles. Working with generous donors, LA4LA identifies new financing tools and funding to unlock innovation and critically needed investments in research and expert support for implementation. For more information visi la4la.org.