Los Angeles on fire
Plus the real-estate developer in chief
In the United States, 2025 began with the latest climate-related disaster, as wildfires rampaged through multiple parts of Los Angeles. Several things have been on my mind since the fires began.
The emotional devastation when people loose their homes and other places they love, as a reminder that the built environment is as much about care and maintenance of existing buildings, as it is building new
The fact that when disasters hit, people (on the ground at least) form new bonds of connection that reinforce the ridiculousness of divisions at other times
The way that incentives and disincentives - from insurance to zoning - bake in climate vulnerability in how building happens, driving continued growth despite the risks
The essence of a place - whether that be wild beauty, expansion, creativity - that comes to the fore when it is threatened
The fact that there will be a shift in the LA that emerges, because there are always disparities between who gets to build and how
The wealth that’s tied up in homes, with some residents having access to reservoirs of liquid wealth to tie them through, and others without
The inevitability of segments of real estate jumping on the opportunity to gouge rents
The nature of work, with retail and service workers continuing to show up at their jobs while navigating the loss of their or their family’s homes, prison inmates brought out to fight the fires, construction workers - often immigrant workers - tackling clean-up
The fact that meanwhile in Gaza, the devastation of homes, stores, schools, hospitals - which displaced Palestinians are now returning to find - has been intentional and pervasive while the world has stood by
The importance of local media, with outlets keeping on top of the news and working together to ensure people have access to the information they need
The fact that Los Angeles is hosting games for the 2026 World Cup, and is hosting the 2028 Olympics, the craziness of mega-events in a climate-ravaged World together with the opportunity they bring for doing things differently
The need for political leadership, imagination and connection in the rebuilding process, while perhaps unsurprisingly the default is so far to build back quick, and the same.
And in other US news…the real estate developer in chief is now calling the shots.
The future's shaped to a significant extent by what gets built, where, how, for whom, and how.
It always has and always will be.
Just like that, the trajectory here in the US has shifted from one headed towards green energy infrastructure (which itself was not free from multiple challenges, and still had too much emphasis on the expansion of individual modes of transit), to a rapid trajectory towards fossil fuel infrastructure and energy-hungry data centers - a picture of the future in which narrow financial interests are set loose to determine how land is used, regardless the consequences.
A trajectory in which overseas territory is up for grabs, and risks are exacerbated for construction workers at home.
This shift - or maybe more like acceleration in a certain direction - calls in turn for other shifts: for breaking siloes and expanding the space for new ways to plan, invest, design, care and maintain, and build.