City of West Hollywood to Host ‘Healthy City By Design’ Symposium

The City of West Hollywood will host a Symposium - Healthy City By Design - which will explore the fundamental role that design, programming, construction, and urban policy initiatives can play in supporting healthier urbanized settings. It will dive into key challenges and opportunities that lie ahead regarding sustainability, climate change, ecological systems, material selections, comfort, aging, food security, construction-related mitigation, resource management, resiliency, and how these relate to health and wellness goals that might be pursued in the future.

The Healthy City By Design Symposium will take place on Saturday, June 28, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the City of West Hollywood's Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. Doors will open at 9:45 a.m. Lunch will be provided. Limited validated parking will be available at the adjacent West Hollywood Park five-story structure.

Symposium Talks will include:

• Healthy Urban Environments by Design by Gerhard W. Mayer, AIA LEED-AP Architect and Urban Designer, RAW International;

• Food Security and Climate Action by Design by David de la Peña, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Landscape and Environmental Design, UC Davis;

• Psychological and Emotional Well-Being by Design by Gail Brager, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley; Director, Center for the Built Environment;

• Healthier Buildings: Mass Timber and Sustainable Construction by Gennelle Dedek, Project Manager, TimberLAB;

• Brain Health and the Built Environment: A New Approach to Aging in Place by Siobhan Farvardin, AIA LEED-AP, Partner and Global Practice Director, Senior Living, HKS; and by Dr. Mike O'Neill, Principal and Global Practice Director, Enterprise Research, HKS.

The Symposium is free; advance RSVP is requested via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/healthy-city-by-design-symposium-tickets-1363443168219. The Symposium will be video-recorded and made available for future on-demand viewing through the City's WeHoTV YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/wehotv.

Historically, the health and wellness of densely populated cities have been intrinsically linked with urban planning, design, and construction decision-making. Improvements in sanitation systems, nutritional food sourcing, base housing regulations, public transit integration, urban walkability, and ease of access to medical facilities all continue to be influenced by well-being considerations. Moreover, as aging-in-place needs garner greater attention, addressing how cities are imagined and designed for the future with greater sensitivity and inclusiveness will become essential.

Design can make a difference. Passive strategies for daylighting and ventilation, thermal comfort and exhaust, and healthy material choices can be exceedingly influential. In addition, spending time in proximity to nature and green space has been shown to have a direct effect on emotional wellbeing, reducing stress, anxiety, and heart rates as well as extending human life spans. Programming our urban corridors with everyday goods and services to promote walkability and constructing new developments with the most environmentally effective materials and methods will also be essential.

In today's context of an increasing emphasis on quantitative housing production, often at the expense of qualitative health and wellness needs, it will be incumbent upon the design and development community and decision makers to ensure well-designed settings for healthy urban living in the future.

The Healthy City By Design Symposium is organized by the City of West Hollywood's Urban Design & Architecture Studio (UDAS) and the City of West Hollywood staff-based Green Team, which works to highlight the health benefits of good design at all scales.

For more information, please contact Ric. Abramson, City of West Hollywood Urban Design & Architecture Studio Manager, at (323) 848-6476 or at rabramson@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing dial 711 or 1-800-735-2929 (TTY) or 1-800-735-2922 (voice) for California Relay Service (CRS) assistance.

For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at https://www.weho.org/email, and visit the City's calendar of meetings and events at https://www.weho.org/calendar. Receive text updates by texting "WeHo" to (323) 848-5000.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood's Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.