The Los Angeles Coast as a public space

Davidson, Ronald A. and Entrikin, J. Nicholas

APA
DAVIDSON, R. A., & ENTRIKIN, J. N. (2005). THE LOS ANGELES COAST AS A PUBLIC PLACE. Geographical Review, 95(4), 578–593. doi:10.1111/j.1931-0846.2005.tb00382.x

Keywords
Beaches , City's Feature , Coastal Access , Public Space

Abstract
In the public-space discourse Los Angeles is usually portrayed as more "anti-city" than city. Its landscape is overrun by houses, "private-public" squares and plazas, theme parks, shopping malls, and so on and lacks inclusive public places. Yet this discourse has essentially disdained to contemplate a major public space that contradicts its general thesis: the Los Angeles coast. The coast is meaningful public place in two specific senses. First, it symbolizes Los Angeles as a whole and therefore provides a basis for regional public identity. Second, Angelinos themselves take the coast seriously as a public place, and they have striven to make it inclusive in prac- tice.